The Joy of Adventure
by MoodKeeps
Summary: When Xander, a loner mudkip that lives for adventure, runs into Amethyst, a fun loving eevee that's always wanted a little excitement in her life, his life gets slightly more annoying. And comedic. Not so long story short, he gets stuck with Amethyst and her insanity. Adventures ensue.
1. Prologue

Xander scurried through the long, dark green grass in the damp swamp he called home. Well, he used to call home. A machamp had found its way into his living space. Whatever had angered it provoked the intent of murder in its mind. Thus, Xander was running. Unfortunately, Xander's short legs couldn't carry him anywhere near as fast as the machamp's long, muscular legs. There was only one course of action Xander could take right now.

Xander jumped into the water, his blue body making an excellent camouflage with the dark, murky color of the swamp water. Xander began swimming right as the machamp put its foot down in the spot he was previously, narrowly avoiding being stepped on.

The machamp jumped farther into the water, waving its four down trying to capture the mudkip that had eluded its grasp. It cried out in anger, the sound heard throughout the entire forest. He angrily stomped out of the water, leaving the scene and deciding it would probably be better to find another Pokémon to let his anger out on.

Xander peeked his head out of the water wearing a smirk on his face. This was the kind of thing he lived for. "That stupid machamp couldn't catch a slowpoke. Heh, even if the slowpoke let it catch him," he chuckled. Xander slowly made his way to the edge of the water, a little caution still evident on his face despite the big grin plastered over it. He stepped out of the water, his blue fins glistening in the little sunlight that could find its way through the labyrinth of branches overhead.

Xander turned his head to his place of residence, smile dropping as he saw its condition. His little, err, 'battle' didn't go over very well with the living conditions of his swamp. He sighed, _I'd be lucky if I can even find my way through this place anymore_ , he thought. His swamp was surrounded by a dense forest. A large pond was in the middle, right in front of the only cave in the surrounding area. He used to live in that cave, but after that near death experience, he wasn't so sure anymore. Previously, his swamp was spotless, aside from the obvious dirt and mud. Now, trees were torn down and there were puddles of dirty water everywhere. He couldn't even see the entrance to his cave anymore!

He yawned, still tired from the rude awakening the machamp gave him. "Well, I guess its time to ditch this place. Maybe I can find an unoccupied cave by the ocean!" He said hopefully. And with that he began his trek. He never looked back once, but despite the fact that he'll most likely never see his home ever again, he was still in high spirits.

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 _YAWN..._

Amethyst had just woken up from her slumber, and after a few minutes of rolling around in her hay bed she was finally able to wake up. Her light brown and white fur was a mess. She yawned, still a little tired. Her family had just sent her off to live on her own the day before and she was fairly happy about it. She was always the most social out of everyone in her family, but she still liked her privacy. Privacy was something her first home could not provide.

Her cave consisted of a medium sized chest and a hay bed. Her cave was in a rather large clearing. The clearing was surrounded trees, both tall and short. A small lake was in the middle in front of two fairly small caves. The sun cast its rays down onto the light green leaves and grass, creating a homey feel.

Amethyst walked out of her home: a small cave her parents had found for her a few days prior. She approached the small lake in front of her house and looked at her reflection. She frowned when she saw her disorganized and matted fur. She climbed into the clear, pristine water to wash the sleep off of her body and was pleasantly surprised by how warm it was. She sighed in contentment as the warm water worked out the aches in her muscles. She could tell today was going to be a good day.

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Xander had been wandering for a couple hours now, humming a wonderful song as he walked through the thick forest. He chuckled as all the forest Pokémon gave him annoyed glares.

Xander came across a clearing, sighing in relief as he left all the stares of the Pokémon behind. There were a few occupied caves scattered around the outer edges of the field. There was a crystal clear lake with a few young Pokémon playing in the clear water. The closest cave housed a family of four eevees, an espeon, and an umbreon.

Xander approached the family, hoping to get information on his current location. "Hi, there," Xander said as he approached the older looking espeon.

The espeon turned her head in Xander's direction and smiled. "Hello!" the espeon responded cheerily. The umbreon heard the commotion and walked over, a quizzical look on his face.

"I was hoping to get some information on the location?" Xander asked, tilting his head slightly.

"Sure thing. Goldenrod City is just a couple miles east from here and Azalea Town is just south a few more miles." The umbreon replied.

Xander blinked slowly, _Wow, who knew you could travel so far in just a few hours. I was west of the Lake of Rage, just a while ago!_ Xander thought with a smug look.

"Thanks. My name is Xander, by the way."

"My name is Chloe," the espeon said waving, as Xander walked away.

"My name's Jeffrey," the umbreon said with a nod.

Xander nodded to Chloe and Jeffrey in reply. He started walking towards Goldenrod City, passing through the bright green bushes that separated the clearing from the forest.

As Xander was making his way through the underbrush, his stomach rumbled, reminding him that he hadn't eaten anything since last night. Spotting a bush of oran berries, Xander decided to take a short food break. After his belly was full he grabbed a few extra and continued his journey to find a new home.

 _Ughh. I've walked so far and I haven't found one empty cave. Maybe I'll have to make a burrow . Or maybe I'll find that beach home I wanted. No, that's just wishful thinking. Besides, all of the caves near the beach are probably full of Pokémon anyway. Maybe, I—"_ AGGGHHHH! _"_

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Amethyst was out looking for a late lunch. It was never easy to find pecha berries, her favorite meal, around this part of Johto. Amethyst was merrily walking towards a pecha berry bush she saw out of the corner of her eyes, when she heard something: " AGGGHHHH!"

She regretfully looked back at the pecha berry and sighed. "This better be worth it..." She muttered under her breath, before turning and running towards the voice.

Dodging trees and bushes, she finally found the source of the noise. Looking down the tall cliff she was on top of with a bemused expression on her face, what she found on the cliff made her heart skip a beat. A mudkip was dangling off a branch on the side of a cliff. "Uh, hey, um, hang on I'll get help!" She yelled worriedly. All she heard in response was a grunt as she turned and ran the opposite direction. _My parents are too far away... come to think of it I don't remember seeing anyone on my way here. I'll get the emergency survival kit my dad gave me!_

She rapidly entered her cave and hurriedly looked through her chest, throwing everything that wasn't the kit behind her. _Where is it, where is it, where is it... Aha!_ She grabbed the handle of the wooden box and opened the kit. She looked among all of the items her father had placed in it, and finding some rope, she grabbed it and scurried out of her cave, only tripping over her paws once. She approached the cliff the mudkip was currently hanging for his life on. Amethyst tied one end of the rope to a tree using her mouth. "Hey, I got some rope! Catch!"

The mudkip saw the rope and grabbed onto it with his mouth while his four legs hung onto the branch. He let go of the branch, hitting the side of the cliff once before climbing up. He climbed the rope swiftly, pulling himself up onto the edge of the cliff. The mudkip was panting violently. Amethyst was staring wide eyed at the mudkip. "That was... amazing! That was the most exciting thing I've ever done in my life!" Amethyst exclaimed, bouncing up and down with a grin.

"T-that wasn't amazing! That was exhilarating!" The mudkip exclaimed.

 _"_ This is great! That was the most exciting thing I've ever done!" Amethyst announced, laughing the whole time.

"Really? That's easily in my top ten, I suppose." Xander stated smugly.

"You do stuff like this all the time?!"

"Actually, yes. I live for adventure. Especially the death-defying type." He stated, looking down at the cliff with a grin.

"Oooohhh! Maybe I'll stick with you; go on adventures, have fun! It'll be great!" She announced with joy.

Xander's eyes widened at that. "What?! No!"

"Yeah!"

"No!"

"Yeah!"

" I adventure alone. You'll just get in the way." Xander waved a leg at her. " Besides, do you really want to risk your life like this on a daily basis."

"Yes! That's the whole reason I want to come! It'll add some excitement into my life." Amethyst put on a look that said she wasn't going to relent.

Xander's eye twitched. "You know what, never mind. I don't want your life to be my responsibility. I'll just walk away." Xander said, getting quite annoyed.

Amethyst followed with a skip in her step as he walked away. Xander glared at her and picked up his pace. Amethyst followed, unfazed, with the same skip in her step. Xander stopped. Amethyst just bounced around Xander, her eyes closed and a big smile on her face.

Xander sighed. "Fine. But I don't even have a place to live, and—"

"I know where you could live! There's an empty cave next to my house! You can stay there!"

Xander stared at her, dumbfounded. He shook his head and sighed.

"Okay, you win," Xander said, sitting down and rubbing his temples. "But don't blame me when you start internally bleeding."

"Oooooh, dangerous... Of course! This'll be so fun! I can't wait to go on adventures and do dangerous things, and—"

Xander tuned her out. After a few minutes of her still talking, Xander decided to take action.

"We can battle really big Pokémon, and we can go camping _every_ day, and we can—"

Xander cut her off. "Just show me the cave."

"You got it, Xander!"

Amethyst led Xander through the forest, babbling about how thrilling her future will be. Eventually, they made it to Amethyst's large clearing. "Well, this is where I live!" She said gesturing towards the her cave. "And that is where you will stay!" She pointed towards the slightly smaller cave with her paw. She led him to the small cave that was thirty feet to the right of her slightly larger cave.

"This is it," Amethyst said, calming down from her outburst ", heh, sorry about my energy. It happens sometimes. I just got so excited. I don't know what came over me," She said, smiling sheepishly.

"Eh, it's fine. This cave will make up for it, I suppose. Yes, this cave is very nice," Xander stated, looking at the small lake in front of the two caves.

"Well, I'll leave you to it, then," said Amethyst, walking towards her own cave.

Xander looked into his own cave and noticed a large hay bed. _Wow, two near death experiences in one day. I guess it really wears you out,_ he thought, yawning, _I think I'll go to bed now. I'll need the rest to deal with Amethyst's drive for adventure tomorrow._

Chuckling, Xander went over and laid in his bed. He yawned one final time before falling aslee—

"Xander! Xander, Xander, Xander!" Amethyst yelled, peeking into the cave.

"What!"

"What are you doing? You can't go to sleep yet! It's only four o'clock! What happened to "living for adventure?""

"I almost fell to my death not thirty minutes ago. Give me a break." Xander said with half lidded eyes.

"Pfffft. Come on, you have to do _something_. We can plan for our adventure tomorrow! I thought of something amazing!" Amethyst said, shaking up and down with a big grin.

"Calm down, Amethyst! We can plan for our— wait, tomorrow?!" Xander exclaimed with wide eyes.

"Of course! It's not like you have anything better to do anyway, right?"

"Well, no, but... Err, fine! But nothing big!"

"Okay! My amazing plan was to invade the menacing bandit's dry lands in the west."

"Amethyst?"

"Yes?"

"Keep it small."

She pouted. "How about a treasure hunt, then?"

"A treasure hunt? Do you actually have a map that leads to treasure?" Xander asked incredulously.

"Yep! Found it under a bunch of junk next to Goldenrod." She stated proudly. "Never had a chance to use it until now."

"Okay, then... Well I guess we're going on a treasure hunt..." He sighed.

"We're gonna be rich, Xander! Just imagine all the possibilities!" She said, waving her paw in a straight line towards the sky.

"Oh joy... Can I go to sleep now?"

"What about the day after tomorrow? Or the day after that?!"

"You don't need to plan everything out in one day." Xander stared at her with a blank look.

"Oh, fine. You don't need to put a damper on all my fun, Xander."

"Then who will? You need limits somewhere."

"Pshhhh. Limits are for boring people like you. What we really need is fun."

 _There's no arguing with this one,_ Xander thought, keeping up his blank stare. "I'm going to bed." He turned around, heading towards his bed.

"Goodnight, Xander. Don't let the bedbugs bite!"

"Don't let the bedbugs bite?" He murmured. "Wait, do you have bedbugs here?"

"Nope, I just got rid of them last night!" Amethyst said with a smile.

Xander looked at her, mouth agape. Amethyst just waved and walked away, leaving him to his own thoughts. _What is wrong with her? Was she always like this?_ He thought. He walked over to his hay bed and laid down in it, being careful to check for any of the aforementioned bedbugs. He yawned and closed his eyes, falling asleep in minutes.

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Amethyst sighed. _I need teach that guy to have fun every once in a while. I mean, adventures? What's more fun than that? Heh, no wonder he only works alone. No one wants to be around a person like that for long._ She thought as she walked back over to the area she found the pecha berry bush. Nearing the bush, she found the pecha berry bush was undisturbed in her absence. She grabbed one with her teeth and ate it with a smile.

Even though Xander was such a party pooper, she still felt the next few days were going to be the best ones in her life. As she ate her dinner, everything that has happened in the past hour hit her and she felt tired almost immediately. _I just saved a mudkip's life._ She thought with a smile. _Yeah, if this sort of thing happens everyday, I think I could get used to Xander._

She swallowed her last pecha berry and made her way back to her clearing. She walked through the bushes that separated the forest and her living area. Her first day in her own and she's already had more fun than with her family. She giggled at the fact that her parents probably wouldn't approve of her running around going on adventures with a mudkip she just met not an hour ago. She entered the warm lake and let the water work out all the stress of the day. She closed her eyes and sighed. _Maybe I should go asleep early, too. I should rest for our treasure hunt._

She stepped out of the lake and made her way to her cave. She opened her chest and picked out one of the only things not thrown against the wall on the other side of the cave. It was a piece of paper. The paper had the word "menu" at the top and had an elaborate design of lines all leading to an X in the middle. _Yeah, this will definitely be fun. I wonder what's in the chest at the X, though. Hmmmm..._

Amethyst carefully placed the "map" back into her chest and closed the lid. She made her way to her bed and laid down in the hay. She closed her eyes with a smile and quickly fell asleep.


	2. Chapter 1 - Beginning of Arc 1

"Xander!"

Xander groaned. Amethyst was prodding Xander's eyes open, trying to wake him from his peaceful slumber.

"What time is it...?" Xander groaned opening one eye, only to jump back after seeing Amethyst's smiling face right in front of his tired, annoyed one.

"It's time for you to get up! We have some treasure to hunt!" Amethyst grabbed a telescope out of the bags on her back and looked out across the lake. "I see something... it's fun!" She exclaimed, looking back at Xander.

Xander groaned. "It's too early for "fun.""

"Nonsense. It's never too early for fun, silly!" She said. She went behind Xander and pushed him out of bed. "Come on! That treasure isn't going to hunt itself!"

Xander relented and stood up. He yawned. _Hopefully she doesn't do this too often. That couldn't be good for my health._ He thought mirthlessly.

Amethyst started walking towards the mouth of the cave, Xander following closely behind. "Now, I've got everything we need in these here bags. I've got a first aid kit. I've got the map. I've got an emergency kit. The same one I got the rope out of to save your life," She said proudly. "And I've got a telescope, but you already knew that. We can be like land pirates!"

"Do land pirates even exist?" Xander asked bemusedly.

"I don't know, but if they do, we're going to be the best land pirates ever!"

Amethyst took out her "map." "According to the map, we should be heading... that way!" Amethyst announced, pointing north. She started walking forward.

"Shouldn't we get something to eat first?"

She stopped and looked back, smiling sheepishly. "Oh... right. Over there is an oran berry bush!" She said, gesturing to her right. She ran to the bush, shook the berries out, grabbed one and shoved it into her mouth. "Come on! You're the one who brought it up!" She said through the berry in her mouth.

Ignoring her repulsive eating habits, Xander walked forward. He grabbed an oran berry and took small bite. "You're never going to finish it eating like that." She shoved the oran berry Xander was holding into his mouth.

"Mmphh!"

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After the... _interesting_ experience that was breakfast, Xander gave the "okay" on leaving.

"Okay, then. Let's get started." Xander started walking forward, but a brown paw was prevented him from getting far.

"Nuh-uh-uh. I have the map, therefore I am the captain and the captain always goes first."

"Yes, but I have more experience, so logic dictates that I take the lead."

"Pshhh, experience, shmexperience. I have the map, so I have to lead the way." Amethyst said, shaking the "map" at Xander.

"Errr... give me that map!"

Amethyst pulled the map away, right as he jumped at it, but ended up landing on his face after it was rudely moved out of his way. "Nope. It's mine. You can't have it."

Xander let out a grunt of annoyance through the earth that was covering his face.

"Come along, Xander. Let us begin our escapade!"

Xander picked himself up off the ground and sighed. _This is going to be a long day..._

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Amethyst was staring at the map intently, occasionally looking up to the split path that was separated by smaller trees.

"Can I look at the map? I could probably read it better than you can."

"Nope. I've decided to use this as a trust building exercise. You trusting that I'm leading you in the right direction will surely help us out in future adventures, no? Anyways, I've figured it out. We have to go left!" She said pointing her paw at the left path. "Now, let us be off!" Amethyst hopped down the left passage, a smile on her face.

Xander gave her a skeptical glance, but followed Amethyst nonetheless.

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"What do you mean we're supposed to go through the mountain?"

"There must be some sort of tunnel somewhere around here. Or maybe we were supposed to go right..."

Xander groaned and facepalmed. "You've got to be kidding me."

"Hey, I never said we _were_ supposed to go right. If there's a tunnel, we came the right way. Now help me look."

Xander sighed. "Alright, but I'd really like to see that map. I could see where we _actually_ are."

"Nope. You need to trust that I can lead you in the right direction. We can't adventure if you don't trust me, after all. Hey look I found a tunnel! I told you, Xander. Now hurry up, for we must adventure through this tunnel!" Amethyst charged towards the cave.

Xander followed Amethyst's path, which led over a set of jagged boulders. Amethyst waved her paws above herself. "See! It's right here!" Amethyst said, hopping into the cave.

Xander stared at her with a dumbfounded look. "I don't think it's a good idea to just walk into some random cave we found twenty seconds ago. We don't know what could be in there!"

"Relax! What's the worst that could happen?"

 _Famous last words,_ Xander thought dryly, following her into the cave. Rough gray stalactites dotted the ceiling of the cave, giving it a menacing appearance. Xander entered somewhat reluctantly.

Amethyst peeked her head around a corner. "Come on, Xander! Hurry up!"

"I'm coming, I'm coming," Xander said, nervously looking in every direction.

"Quit worrying. Nothing's going to happen! You're just being paranoid." Amethyst said with a roll of her eyes.

"I think my paranoia is justified. I've done this sort of thing before. Anything could go wrong!" Xander walked around the corner Amethyst was impatiently pacing at.

"Come on! You've walked ten feet in ,like, two minutes! At this rate we'll never get through the tunnel!" Amethyst said, sounding slightly annoyed.

"Well _sorry_ for being cautious." Xander stated defensively.

"It doesn't matter. Just hurry up this time." She pulled out her map. "Come on! It's this way!" She walked down the tunnel, humming a song that Xander didn't recognize.

Xander ran to catch up with Amethyst. "Shhh! Quit humming, you're going to reveal where we are! There have got to be Pokémon in this cave."

"If there are they're probably nice, friendly ones!" Amethyst said joyously.

"No, they aren't. They'll want us to get out of their cave and they'll do anything to achieve that!"

"Not if you talk to them first, Xander!"

Xander facepalmed. "They aren't going to talk! They're going to attack!"

"I'm sure they only attacked you because you're not good at first impressions." Amethyst said matter-of-factly.

Xander stared at her with narrowed eyes. "What does that have to do with anything?"

"Well, when we met yesterday you were dangling off of a branch on the side of a cliff. When I got you up you never said one thank you. You just said it was fun and then started to brag about how you always do this." Said Amethyst, looking at Xander incredulously.

"Point taken, but I deserved bragging rights. I almost died."

"But I saved you, so if anyone's earned bragging rights, it's me." Amethyst said smugly. "Plus, I've never had any prior training, so— wait, do you hear that?" Amethyst asked questioningly.

Xander perked his ears and listened closely. _**RUMBLE...**_. "Yeah... Stay here." Xander commanded authoritatively.

The rumbling was getting louder with every second that passed. Xander walked ahead of Amethyst and sidled along the side of the tunnel towards the corner that separated them and whatever was making that noise. He looked around the corner and his eyes widened. Three rogue magmars were frantically running in their direction, shooting flames every which way.

"Amethyst, take cover!" Xander ordered, running behind a big rock on the side of the cave.

Amethyst ducked behind the nearest rock, putting her paws over her head and closing her eyes. As the magmars got closer, a heat that got more intense by the second appeared. A torrent of heat washed over the both of them as the magmar ran between the two of them.

The heat faded as the magmars disappeared, and Amethyst let out a breath of air she hadn't realized she'd been holding. She got up and coughed; all the smoke that had gathered in the cave had also gathered in her lungs. "X-Xander, are you okay?"

Xander coughed before answering. "Yeah, - * _cough_ * - I'm alright."

Xander got up and walked to the opposite side of the cave where Amethyst was, still blinded by the smoke. Unfortunately, Amethyst did the same and they ended running into each other.

"Ooof!" They both said at the same time.

Xander sat down, rubbed his head and groaned.

"Heh, sorry..." Amethyst said with a sheepish grin. Xander responded by getting up and walking past Amethyst without a word. "H-hey! I'm the captain! I walk in front!" Amethyst scurried in past Xander and took her place in the front. She pulled out her map again. "Okay... this way!" She jogged in the same direction the magmars came from. He sighed, but followed.

And with that they continued their journey through the cave in silence. Well, other than Amethyst's niggling humming. "Hey! I think I see a light up ahead!" Amethyst said, gesturing farther into the cave where a faint light was barely visible. "Let's go! I wanna get out of here sooner rather than later!"

Xander began to walk forward, but stopped when a loud screech echoed through the cave. Xander looked behind him and his eyes widened. "Amethyst, get down! Zubats!" Amethyst looked back at the form on the ground with a raised eyebrow. She gasped when she saw the large group of zubats, golbats, and crobats flying straight towards them from behind, and mimicked the cowering mudkip. The screeches of the bats had gotten so loud they both had to cover their ears. The bats flew straight over them, unfazed by the cowering Pokémon below.

How long the aerial stampeded lasted was unknown by the two of them, but eventually the screeches subsided. "Are you okay, Amethyst?" Xander questioned, his ears ringing violently.

"My ears are sore and I have a few scratches, but other than that I'm fine. How about you?" Said Amethyst, rubbing her pointed ears with her forepaws.

"Same thing. I'm scratched and my ears are ringing. I'm fine." Xander said while walking towards Amethyst. "Come on. You're right; the sooner we get out of here the better."

"O-okay. It's a little hard to hear now."

"You probably have more sensitive ears than I do." Xander said, allowing Amethyst to walk ahead of him with a roll of his eyes.

"Thank you, Xander." She said pulling the map out of her bags. "Now let's see here... After we get out of this cave," she gestured towards the now closer light of the exit ", we take a right and the treasure should be somewhere around that area!" She said grinning.

"Great, but we're going around the mountain next time. No matter how long it takes." He said, glaring at the gray rocks and stalactites of the cave behind him.

"I agree," she said, shuddering ", this place changes you... I mean, look at us; we're covered in scratches and I swear I've got hearing loss! Oh, look how close the exit is now! We'll be out of here in no time! When we get the treasure, we can—"

Xander just gave her a look and sighed. Xander ignored Amethyst's outburst of energy and walked the rest of the tunnel in silence, glancing behind him every now and then to make sure they would leave uninjured.

"— and then we could— oh! We're here!" Amethyst hopped out of the cave and laid on the grass next to a lone tree. "Ahhhh, fresh air... finally!" Outside if the cave was a small ledge with a wide view of the forest. A couple cities dotted the forest to the left of the mountain.

Xander walked out of the tunnel, took a deep breath and yawned, "Okay... to the right you said?" Xander looked to the right where he didn't see solid ground or anything that implied treasure of any kind. "Amethyst, something tells me you read the map wrong." He said, walking onto the edge of the overhang the treasure was supposedly meant to be at.

Amethyst hopped up and jogged over to Xander. "What makes you say that?"

"There is an _overhang_ where the treasure is supposed to be!" Xander yelled, gritting his teeth angrily. Amethyst pulled out her map. "Give me that!" Xander grabbed the map out of Amethyst's paws.

"Hey!" Amethyst shouted, grabbing at the piece of paper Xander was holding from her.

"Amethyst... this isn't a map. It's a restaurant menu!"

 _ ***CRACK***_

"What was that?" Amethyst asked, looking at Xander with a tilt of her head. Xander looked behind them. There was a large crack running through the base of the overhang. "Amethyst, we need to get off of this thing!" He said, going in front of Amethyst and pushing her back towards the cave. Amethyst looked behind her and saw the large crack. "What's going on, Xander?!"

"We nee—"

The overhang gave out. Amethyst hit her head on the cliff and passed out. The force of the hit caused Amethyst's muzzle to hit Xander's head roughly and Xander passed out.

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 _Ughhh, my head...,_ Amethyst thought, slowly drifting back into consciousness. Amethyst was lying in a thick, wet bush, head unceremoniously hanging over the edge. She lifted up a paw and rubbed her forehead. _Ughhh... now I have a big bump on my head. That can't be good._

Amethyst opened her eyes, only to close them again when the blinding sunlight became too much. She opened her eyes much more slowly this time, allowing her eyes to adjust. She carefully climbed off the moist bush and shakily got to her paws. Looking around the area, she saw what looked like the wreckage of a landslide. She saw a puddle a few feet to her left. _It must have rained while we were in that cave._ She limped over to it, deciding that checking her condition is probably the best thing for her to do right now. Looking into the slightly muddy water, she saw the large bump on her forehead and also a small gash under left eye. _Ughhh... why is my muzzle so sore,_ she thought, opening and closing her muzzle.

She sighed, _What happened...? Oh, wait... Xander!_ She thought urgently. She frantically turned around and ran to the remains of the overhang. She swiftly dug out various rocks and boulders. Her panting was getting heavier and she was starting to panic. _No, no, no, no, no ,no, no!_ She was about to start crying, but she blinked when she heard a groan. She looked up, past the rocks and boulders and saw Xander lying on his stomach limp in... in a big "R?" "Xander! Xander! Over here!" She shouted, smiling regardless of her confusion. Xander looked up in her direction with half lidded eyes and groaned.

She looked down and her smile dropped, instead replaced with an inquisitive look. "What is this place?" She asked with a tilt of her head. A large stone building was built into the mountain. Glass windows covered the entire front. There were large automatic doors for the entrance at the bottom of the building with a concrete porch right at the base. The big "R" that Xander was lying limp on was at the top of the building, held up by steel bars.

Xander groaned one last time before sliding off of the "R" and landing at the top of the building. He got up onto his legs and sulked towards the edge of the building. He climbed onto one of the many trees that was to the left of the building and slid down the trunk. He walked past Amethyst. Amethyst blinked then turned around. "Hey, what is this place?" She asked.

"Somewhere we shouldn't be. It's a Team Rocket building. They capture Pokémon and use them for evil." He answered, looking behind him. "Now come on."

"But this is the type of adventure I've always wanted! Let's go in!" She said gesturing towards the building. "We can free all the Pokémon and be heroes!" She said, looking back at the building and grinning.

"Are you serious?! That's a terrible idea!"

"No, this is a great idea! We save the Pokémon, we become famous, and then we can actually be rich!" She said, limping towards the entrance of the building.

"No! Don't go in there!" Xander ordered, running towards Amethyst. "You're already injured! Even if you did go in there you wouldn't stand a chance against anyone in there!"

"That's why you're here. To protect me. You said you don't want my death to be your fault. You _need_ to protect me if you really meant that." Amethyst said, giving him a dumbfounded look.

"No, I said I don't want your life to be my responsibility." He said, sitting down and crossing his forelegs.

"Well _isn't_ it your responsibility? You don't want me to die, do you?" She queried, giving him puppy dog eyes and tilting her head.

"Well— err, no—but," He stuttered.

She responded by walking in front of the automatic doors and stomping down to get them open.

He sighed and facepalmed. "Fine, but your life is no longer my responsibility."

"Fine by me. Now come help me open this door." She said, stomping down on the concrete in front of the automatic doors again.

He sighed once more before joining Amethyst in stomping on the porch. "Okay, we have to do this at the same exact time. On the count of three, jump." He said. Amethyst nodded. "One, two, three..." They both stomped. The doors opened up. Amethyst squeaked and scurried inside. The inside was decorated with gray granite tiled floors and white walls. Rectangular office lights brightened the hallways. Amethyst was hopping up and down in the middle of "Shhhhh! Be careful! This place is probably crawling with Team Rocket members and scientists." He whispered.

"Heh, sorry. I'm just so excited! This easily beats saving you from a branch on the side of a cliff!" She whispered excitedly.

He sighed. "Just follow me. Freeing the enslaved Pokémon, you said?"

"Yep! Do you know where that is?"

"No, I've never been here before. Or any Team Rocket Base, for that matter. But I think it's safe to assume the place where they keep the Pokémon is the biggest room in the building."

"Why do you say that?" She asked curiously.

"I've heard stories that they keep Pokémon in cages. They probably have a ton of Pokémon and the cages probably take up a lot of space, especially for the bigger Pokémon... Wait, how do we even know they keep Pokémon here?"

"Well we won't know until we see, now will we?" She inquired, looking back at Xander.

"But what if they don't keep Pokémon here? We'll probably be captured and sent to some other place to be experimented." He said, starting to panic at the thought.

"Isn't this what you said you lived for?" She asked with a raised eyebrow.

"I said I lived for adventure, not being captured, enslaved, and, or killed.."

"Well, escaping would be and adventure."

"Errr... just be quiet; you're gonna get us caught." He warned.

She laughed. "Okay, my muzzle hurts anyways. We'll continue this conversation later." She said with a wink.

He ignored her comment and continued walking. They approached a slightly ajar door labeled "Laboratory." "I think the Pokémon would be in here. They probably do experiments on them, so it only makes sense," Xander explained, pushing the door open with his head. Amethyst nodded. They walked in, immediately noticing the occasional open door and the scientists inside of them. Xander approached the first open door and looked inside. There were a few scientists writing on computers. Deciding that it was not very interesting, he stepped back and continued searching.

"Hey, look over here!" Amethyst was looking through one door labeled "Examination Room." Inside, a scientist holding a syringe was scribbling something down in a notepad, looking up at a charmander lying unconscious on a table in the middle of the room at seemingly random intervals. He suddenly put his notepad down on the table next to him and looked in their direction. His eyes stopped on them and widened They both stared at each other for who knows how long, before Xander broke the silence.

"Oh, crap."


	3. Chapter 2

The scientist shook his head, snapping moving his eyes away from the two Pokémon in his doorway. He ran to the door, causing Xander and Amethyst to snap out of their daze. He hit a button that neither Xander nor Amethyst had seen. A loud alarm sounded out at the same time as the flashing red lights were produced. They looked at each other once before running back to where they came from. Soldiers flooded through the doors they entered the Laboratory from and the sound of stomping echoed in the hallways. Multiple lines of Team Rocket members, each wearing a black outfit with a red "R" in the middle of their torso, marched down the hallway. They were all carrying a large gun of sorts in their hands.

"Other way, Amethyst!" Xander said, already running the other way.

Amethyst skidded to a stop. "Have I told you these floors are slippery?!" Amethyst inquired, running after Xander. They passed the scientist's room and continued until they reached the middle of the hallway: an intersection with four different corridors connected. Team Rocket soldiers marched down the hallway opposite the door.

"Amethyst, split up! You go that way," Xander gestured to the hallway on the right ",and I'll go this way." He gestured to the left one.

"What?! You can't leave me alone!" Amethyst exclaimed, panic evident in her voice.

"We don't have much of a choice, now do we? Plus, you said you were okay with your life not being my problem," Xander retorted. "Now run!" Xander ran down the left hallway, leaving Amethyst alone with the Team Rocket soldiers.

Amethyst groaned, but ran down the right hallway regardless. The soldiers found themselves at the intersection right as Amethyst ran down the left hallway.

–––––––––––––––––––––

Xander dashed down the corridor of doors, panting heavily at the strain of the constant running. He looked behind him. _They're gaining on me,_ Xander thought, picking up his speed.

Two corners were quickly approaching, one ten feet away on the left and one twenty five feet away one the right. The right one held a constant flow of Team Rocket soldiers, but the left one was completely empty. Xander ran through the left hallway, but quickly realized his mistake. The hallway was short, only going straight about twenty feet. Xander continued running until he reached the end. He turned around and back pedaled, only to be stopped by the pale white wall. Stupid wall.

The soldiers had almost reached him. He frantically searched for any possible escape routes. There weren't any. By the time Xander realized that, Team Rocket was grabbing for him. Xander used water gun on all the people around him. The soldiers recoiled and backed up. They said something, but Xander wasn't paying attention. He tackled the speaking soldier and jumped back, intending to strike again. One of the soldiers in the front lifted up one of those strange weapons, aimed it at Xander, and fired. Xander jumped out of the way, barely dodging the net that had blown from the gun, and tackled the person who shot it at him.

Another soldier in the front lifted up their weapons and shot at him. He jumped to the right, dodging the net. Right as his legs touched the ground, another net came flying his way. Xander rolled out of the way, but another net came flying in his direction. This time he didn't have enough time to get out of the way. Xander was caught, tangled inside of a net. A soldier in the front, presumably the leader of the group, looked at two soldiers on the side and motioned towards Xander. "Take the mudkip to the caging room." The two soldiers saluted and walked towards Xander. Xander struggled inside of the net. He bit the rope. Big mistake. The net shocked him, knocking him out. One of the two soldiers grabbed the top of the net and nodded towards the the other one. It was at this moment that Xander realized he would not be escaping.

–––––––––––––––––––––

 _Who knew adventure could be so... dangerous? Well, it is what I asked for._ Amethyst was crawling through an air duct. It was dark; she had to rely on her sense of touch to find her way around. She was bruised and burned from the battle that occurred before she slipped into the venting.

–––––––––––––––––––––

Amethyst scurried around a corner she was forced into after Team Rocket gave chase to her. She was panting heavily from the exertion of running nonstop for ten minutes.

 _BARK, BARK, BARK_

Amethyst's eyes widened. She looked behind her. One mightyena and two houndooms ran in front of the the crowd of soldiers behind her. They were gaining on Amethyst easily, their longer legs covering more distance than her smaller ones. One of the houndooms let an ember attack go on Amethyst, making her yelp in pain when it hit her left back leg, but she kept running regardless. The second houndoom ran up beside her and tackled her side, causing her to fly into the wall. She hit the ground next to the wall with an audible slap and sprained her leg under her body.

"Stop! That's enough; we need her alive," One of the soldiers barked at the three Pokémon. The Pokémon backed away from Amethyst, the mightyena ahead of her, one houndoom to her left and the other to her right. The Team Rocket soldier that commanded the three Pokémon lifted up the net shooter. Amethyst shakily got to her paws, getting into a running stance. The soldier shot a net at her, right as she jumped to the left, causing the net to hit the mightyena behind her, shocking it and causing it to yelp in pain. Amethyst tackled the houndoom to her left and ran down the hallway as fast as her sprained leg would take her. The remaining houndoom snapped out of his shock and ran after her.

Amethyst noticed an open wooden door straight to her right. She ran into it and closed the door with her head. _Gotta find a way to escape!_ She thought urgently. The remaining houndoom ran into the door with a loud thump, closely followed by the sound of an army of stomping feet. She started hyperventilating, hectically searching for any escape possible. _Come on, come on, come on... a vent!_ There was a vent a few inches above the ground on the wall opposite the door. She ran to it, sliding on the tiled floor with every step. She tackled the vent, instantly breaking the nails holding it onto the wall.

The door behind her opened, provoking her to jump into the air duct. She crawled in and closed her eyes, attempting to catch her breath. Amethyst could hear the growling of the houndoom at the entrance of the air duct, but she didn't care. She was safe...

–––––––––––––––––––––

Amethyst shivered. Even thinking about it frightened her. She crawled into an air vent, snapping her out of her daze. She covered her muzzle with her forepaws and sneezed. Her sneeze echoed throughout the air duct and she blinked. _Hopefully that doesn't come back to bite me... Eh, oh well,_ She thought.

Amethyst charged up a shadow ball and let it go at the air vent. The vent blew off with a crash, hitting a wall on the other side of the room. She peeked out of the air duct. It was dark. The only lights were produced by the sixteen monitors on the wall displaying live feed of different places around the building. The room was completely devoid of anyone except for a sleeping security guard at a desk in front of the monitors. The faint sounds of snoring were evident as Amethyst made her way out of the venting and snuck over to the display of monitors. _If that guard can sleep through that, he can sleep through anything._

Various corridors and different types of rooms were spectacled on the multitude of screens. The first screen showed a group of scientists typing on computers. The second screen displayed row after row of hundreds of caged Pokémon. _I knew it! They keep Pokémon her!_ She thought, her eyes glowing. It was then that she saw two scientists carrying a cage holding an unconscious mudkip down a line of cages. _Wait... is that Xander...? It is! Xander!_ She thought. They set the cage down on the ground and walked away.

She turned her head towards the desk above her. She noticed a single black office chair five feet to the left of the napping guard. She hopped up on it. Turning her attention to the desk, she put her forepaws on the edge of the desk and raised her head above it. She instantly noticed a map of the building right under her muzzle. _Oh, well that's convenient. Okay, let's see here... it looks like I'm in the middle of the building on corridor D... they keep the Pokémon in the back... Okay so, from the direction the door's facing, I need to take a left turn, then a right, then a left, then straight... Okay, left, right, left,straight, left, right, left, straight, left, right,left, straight..._ She repeated the thought in her head as she jumped off of the office chair and pushed the chair ahead of her towards the door. She turned the seat to face the door and leaped into it. She climbed up onto the door lever and pushed down. The black chair slid backwards at the same time as the wooden door opened and Amethyst yelped as she fell to the floor.

The guard yawned loudly, signalling that it's time for Amethyst to leave. Amethyst hurriedly got off of the floor and ran out the door. Still repeating the thought in her head, she turned left and scurried down the hallway. Luckily, this hallway was empty, so she made it through that hallway unmolested. She looked around the corner and saw two Team Rocket Pokémon, one a sableye and one a luxio, walking down the hallway in her direction, chatting about some new recruit. "...he'll never be strong enough to go on any real missions. Sure he's great at defense and his stamina is great, but without strength, what do you have?" The luxio explained.

 _Alright, I guess they also let Pokémon wander around on their own, so maybe if I pretend to be a Team Rocket Pokémon, I can pass them without a problem._ Amethyst put on a serious face, cleared her throat and walked around the corner. She passed by the two Pokémon and got strange looks from the both of them. She just nodded to them and they nodded back, continuing their conversation. She heard them walk around the corner and she let out a sigh of relief. Continuing her walk, she went around the right corner, then the left. She noticed a set of large iron doors straight down the hallway next to a staircase and she grinned. She ran down the hall and slid to a stop at the front. _Okay... how am I going to get in?_ She looked around her for anything she could use for leverage. _Nothing... oh!_ She heard a couple of muffled voices on the other side. _This is my chance!_ She thought, hiding behind one of the two iron doors. They opened up.

The same two soldiers she saw on the monitor walked out silently, the doors slowly closing behind them. Amethyst scurried inside as quickly as she could, the doors slamming closed behind her. What she found inside was something the monitors could not portray. It was terrifying. There were hundreds of weak Pokémon in row after row of iron cages. Some were banging on the side of their prison, some were screaming, barking, or howling, and others were crying or sleeping restlessly. The concrete floor was cold under her paws and the stuffy air was suffocating. Shaking her head to recover from the shock, she took a deep breath to control herself and walked down the row of cages in front of her.

"HELP!"

"FREE US!"

"Please help..."

Amethyst closed her eyes and ignored the Pokémon, instead focusing on finding Xander through the mess of cages and screaming Pokémon. Reaching the end of the line of cages, she turned her head to the right and looked down the endless amount of cages. _Why would they do this to all of these Pokémon. It doesn't make any sense!_ She thought, walking right. _Okay, if I remember correctly, they carried Xander this way... or maybe it was the other way? No, it was this way. I'm sure of it._

"Hey, you. Eevee."

Amethyst's ears perked and she turned her head to the source feminine voice. It was the only voice she heard that sounded reasonable, after all. To her left, there was a shuckle poking its head through its cage towards her. She had hard black eyes, as if it had been through decades of this insanity... "What are you doing here?" The shuckle asked, narrowing its eyes at her.

"Well... I was hoping to find a friend, but—"

"Was your friend that mudkip they just brought in?"

"Yes! That's him!" She said excitedly. "Do you know where he is?"

"Go down four rows that way," She pointed behind Amethyst. "You should find your friend somewhere around their."

"Thanks... Can you tell me your name?" She asked appreciatively.

"Cora. Don't mention it. Now go; the Pokémon here will get angry if you stay too long."

Amethyst nodded and smiled at her. "I'll come back for you!" She turned and walked in the direction contrary to where she was heading before. "One... two... three... four!" She walked into the line of enclosures and promptly noticed the blob of bright blue and orange sulking in the corner of a cage a few cages down. She ran over to his cage. "Xander!"

The mudkip turned around and his eyes widened. "Amethyst? What are you doing here? _How_ did you get here?!"

"I'll tell you later. Help me break this lock!" Amethyst charged up a shadow ball and aimed it at the electronic lock on the side of the cage. She let it go and a loud metallic ring met the air. Xander got up and tackled the door of his prison. Amethyst's tail glowed.

"What are you doing?" Xander asked skeptically.

"Freeing you from this cage, obviously." She jumped into the air, turned around, and slammed her glowing tail into the lock, instantly shattering it. She opened the door and dragged Xander out.

"Where did you learn how to do that?" Xander asked, disbelief obvious in his voice.

"My dad was always big on teaching me how to defend myself. I never saw the point of it, but I'm glad he taught me now."

Xander dumbly nodded and shook his head. "Okay, we have to get out of here fast!"

"Wait! What about all of these other Pokémon?!"

"What about them?"

"Wasn't the whole reason we came in here to free them?"

"Oh... right. Ugh, fine. But how do you suggest we free them?" Xander asked quizzically.

Ummm... oh! I met a shuckle named Cora who looked liked she'd been here for a while. Maybe she knows how we can do it!" She exclaimed. "Come on, let's go ask." Xander sighed.

"Okay... let's go."

Amethyst ran back where she came from without another word, Xander following close behind. The deafening sound of all the Pokémon still stood strong as they approached the cage Cora was held in. "Cora! Can you tell me how I can free all these Pokémon?!" Amethyst asked, getting straight to the point.

Cora blinked, obviously confused. "Why do you want to free us? It would only make it so you have to spend more time in here and risk getting captured."

"Because I'm a good Pokémon and I like to help others. Now, do you know?!"

Cora blinked again, giving a skeptical look, but answered nonetheless. "Do you see those windows over there?" She pointed towards a few windows on the wall above the entrance to the caging room. Amethyst nodded. "They have a button that unlocks all of these cages. On the off chance that you can actually press it, that's how you would unlock them."

Amethyst nodded, smiling. "Thanks again. Come on, Xander." Amethyst walked away.

"Wait! Amethyst, was it?" Cora asked, tilting her head. Amethyst nodded. "...Thank you."

Amethyst smiled at her and walked away, Xander following. "Let's get this over with." Xander said with a sigh.

"Eh, at least you're actually making an effort to help other Pokémon, even as little as that effort may be." Amethyst said, grinning at Xander. Xander rolled his eyes and lowered his head.

"Oh, poor Xander. Don't worry you'll be a better Pokémon some day, but, for now, stick with me." She nudged Xander's side. "It'll get you places."

"Yeah, like the emergency room."

"Ha! See, you're already developing a sense of humor." She states cheerfully.

"I already had a sense of humor! Ugh, let's just get back to the task at hand," Xander said, approaching the iron doors that Amethyst was currently waiting in front of.

"Climb on my back and open the door." Amethyst said, lowering herself to the ground.

Xander climbed onto Amethyst's back and hoisted himself up to the door's handle, pulling the door open. Xander jumped off of Amethyst as she moved to exit. "Has anyone ever told you you're heavier than you look?" Amethyst questioned, not looking at Xander.

"Yeah, thanks."

"Hey, there are stairs right there! They probably lead up to the control room!" Said Amethyst, walking towards the stairs.

"Wait! You can't just walk up the stairs!" Xander cried out, stopping Amethyst with his leg.

"...Why not?"

"What if there's someone on the stairs?!"

"We have to go up there anyway. We don't have a choice!"

"What about leaving?" Amethyst rolled her eyes and walked up the tiled steps.

"Hey, there's a door!" Amethyst announced, pointing up the stairs. They neared the door. It opened up and a guard walked out, double taking at the sight of the two Pokémon on the steps. Amethyst and Xander looked at each other once, then they both headbutted the guard. The guard fell down and hit his head on the doorknob. With the guard knocked out and the door wide open they both walked in. The room had the same tiled floor almost all of the building had. A large desk wrapped around the front of the room, multiple computers and monitors on the desktop.

Xander's eyes locked onto the large red button on the part of the desk nearest to the door. Xander hopped up onto an office chair and then onto the desktop. The button was cased in a plastic covering with the label "UNLOCK" at the top.

"Hey, Amethyst! I found the button!"

"Press it!"

Xander opened up the plastic cover and hovered his right foreleg over the button. "You know, this was almost too easy." Xander stated, looking at Amethyst.

 _GROWL..._

"What was that?" Amethyst asked, looking towards the source of the noise. It was then that a large houndoom jumped out of the shadows and barrelled towards Xander, crashing into him and causing them both to fall through the window with a loud crash.

 _Well, so much for "too easy."_


	4. Chapter 3

Xander landed on his back on the concrete floor in a mess of glass shards and limbs, his head barely missing the ground. He was followed closely by the houndoom that had pushed him. Xander turned himself over and picked himself up off the ground with a groan, only to fall on his stomach when his legs couldn't support his weight. He yelped as he hit the ground. He had several cuts and many pieces of glass stuck all over his body, as well as a large black bruise on his back. He heard growling and groaning to his right. The houndoom was in similar condition; glass shards all over his body, several bruises and cuts and scratches everywhere. It stared at Xander and lifted itself off of the floor. It's right foreleg seemed to be broken.

"XANDER!" Xander looked up towards the three windows of the command room. Amethyst was poking her head out of the shattered window on the right. "ARE YOU OKAY?!"

"Yeah!" Xander coughed and choked when his lungs burned under the use of his voice. "Press the button!" He commanded as the houndoom began to limp itself over to him.

Amethyst nodded and pulled her head back inside the broken window. A few seconds later, the earsplitting screech of an alarm rang off, the room tinted red, and all of the cages around them snapped open. Hordes of Pokémon ran out of their now opened cages and made towards the exit in a frenzy. The houndoom immediately heard the stampede andran to the iron doors right as Xander was engulfed in the crowd. Xander attempted getting up, wincing as the glass shards dug into his legs, but, again, fell back onto his stomach.

"Xander, correct?" Cora crawled into Xander's vision. Xander nodded. "Hold still. I can get you out of here." Xander complied, allowing Cora to slip her head under his body and slide him onto her shell.

"Thanks," he said, wincing when his left foreleg hit her shell.

"Xander!" Amethyst ran through the large crowd of stampeding Pokémon and approached Xander. "Are you okay?" She asked whilst pulling out the first aid kit from her bags. "I have some supplies, but the glass is going to be a problem. We're going to have to go to a Pokémon Center when we get out of here," she explained, wrapping a large bandage around his back.

"A Pokémon Center?"

"Yeah, the place where they treat injured Pokémon back to health," Amethyst explained, giving Xander a bemused look and fastening the bandage.

"I know what a Pokémon Center is!" He coughed. "I've just never been to one."

"You've never been to a Pokémon Center?" Amethyst asked disbelievingly.

"No. I've never had a reason to go to one until now, and even if I did, I was nowhere near one until recently," Xander croaked.

"After adventuring as much as you say you do, you've never been injured enough to go to a Pokémon Center?" Amethyst asked, raising an eyebrow.

"I managed well enough on my own."

"...Well this will be exciting! Your first time visiting a Pokémon Center! I still remember my first time. I was playing tag with my siblings and one of them pushed me down. I landed straight on my leg and had to go to one," Amethyst said absently.

Xander coughed and hacked, snapping Amethyst's attention back to Xander. "You have siblings?" Asked Xander.

"Mmmhmmm. Four. One brother and three sisters. My brother's name is Paul, my younger sister's name is Lizzie, my older sister's name is Echo, and my oldests sister's name is Abi."

"We should probably be going," Cora interrupted them ", we're not out of the woods yet."

"Oh...right," Amethyst said, smiling sheepishly at Cora. "But what about that houndoom?" She pointed at the creature writhing on the ground.

"Leave him be. I'm sure he'll be fine soon enough anyway and what good would it do us?"

"The satisfaction of helping another Pokémon, maybe?"

"Can we just leave?!" Xander asked, obviously annoyed.

Cora cleared her throat. "Let's go, then." Cora crawled into the flood of Pokémon that were running through the large iron doors, Xander on her back and Amethyst following close behind.

"Do you have any other family, Xander?" Amethyst asked.

"...I haven't seen my parents in a few years," Xander managed to get out, clenching his teeth through the pain.

"What about siblings?" Amethyst asked as they walked through the pale white hallways, now filled with Pokémon.

Xander shook his head. "No, I was an only child."

"That's...kind of sad, actually," Amethyst said, her ears drooping. "I wouldn't have been able to live without my family. I probably would've ended up like you."

"Yeah, I lived through it. It wasn't too bad. And what do you mean by "probably would've ended up like me?"

"You're so pessimistic and dull." Xander opened his mouth to protest, but was beat to it by Amethyst. "Didn't you have any friends?" Amethyst asked hopefully.

"I'm not—nevermind. I didn't bother with friends. They only would've slowed me down on my adventures."

Amethyst had her head lowered and looked completely crestfallen at this point. "That...that's ridiculous!" Amethyst exclaimed, raising her head. "Do I slow you down?" Amethyst queried, a determined look in her eyes.

"Yes, but I may have died without you two back there, so that overrides anything you've done to slow me down, even if you're the entire reason I'm here," Xander responded.

Amethyst pouted. "I guess that's probably the best "thank you" I'm gonna get from you."

"I got a thank you out of him back there. That was probably just a fluke, though. That's how most guys are, Amethyst. You just have to get used to it."

Xander glared at Cora, but she just stuck her tongue out at him. Amethyst tried to suppress a laugh, but failed miserably. "Just...quit talking!" Ordered Xander.

Cora smirked. "What, you can't handle a little fun?"

"If _this_ is fun, then I don't want any part of it."

Amethyst's laughter was beginning to fade. "Pffft, you're such a wet blanket. Lighten up a little."

Xander groaned. "I tried lightening up once. I almost died," Xander replied, coughing toward the end.

"And when was that?"

"Back when I fell off of that cliff. I was trying to open up to the idea of finding a new place to live."

Amethyst just rolled her eyes and Cora laughed. "If this is how you two usually are, I can get used to it. A little comedy is certainly a good change from gloomy iron cages."

The iconic sound of rhythmic marching filled the air behind them as the trio rounded a corner that lead to the large automatic glass doors at the front of the building. "It took them long enough. What kind of soldiers are they? Most of us are already gone!" Cora blurted.

"Eh, I'm not complaining," Xander said, closing his eyes.

"Neither am I. That place was horrible!"

"If you thought being in there for ten minutes was bad, why don't you try living in it?" Cora questioned, giving Amethyst a skeptical look.

"Heh, sorry..." Amethyst apologized, smilingly at Cora guiltily.

"Don't worry about it, just think about what you say next time," Cora said, smiling at Amethyst.

"Thanks, Cora."

"Don't mention it. You're young; you just still have a lot to learn."

"I guess you're right. I've never really thought about it." The marching behind them grew louder as the soldiers went around the corner. Amethyst's heart rate grew when she saw them. "Hey, we should probably hurry." Cora nodded and they picked up their pace. They crossed through the already opened doors and a loud snore coming from the mudkip on Cora's shell rang out. Amethyst blinked, then laughed.

"Looks like the poor guy couldn't take us anymore," Amethyst said, giggling.

"Let's just get him to the Pokémon Center. The sooner the better."

Amethyst nodded in agreement. They exited the building and Cora took in a big breathe of air. "It feels so good to be outside again."

"If you don't mind me asking...how long were you in there?" Amethyst queried.

"I don't really know," Cora replied ", The only way we had to tell time in there was the scheduled visits from the scientists. They always took one of into one of those examination rooms and they sometimes had a clock."

"I saw a charmander in one of those rooms. Have you ever been taken?" Amethyst asked as they walked through the underbrush of the forest.

Cora nodded. "Once. When I was first put in there. I don't wanna talk about it," Cora said as they entered the forest surrounding the Team Rocket building.

Amethyst immediately dropped the subject and they continued in silence, the only sounds being the forest Pokémon and Xander's loud snores.

Cora gestured her head to the tall buildings towering above the trees miles away. "That's Goldenrod?"

Amethyst nodded. "Yeah. Haven't been there in a while...we should probably head over there. That _is_ the nearest Pokémon Center."

Cora nodded. "What are we doing standing here then? Let's go!"

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"Okay, so...where do we go?"

Cora groaned. "I thought you said you've been here before."

They had just made it to the front of city, the beginning of a sunset just barely showing over the high buildings. Black roads entered the city from all directions, vehicles driving upon them in and out of the city. People dotted the sidewalks edging the streets. "I said I haven't been here in a while... Why did they have to make this city so big?!"

Cora facepalmed. "Let's just...ask some of the Pokémon that live here if they can point us to the Pokémon Center."

"Heh heh...okay." They walked into the city, Amethyst almost immediately noticing an alley next to the first building next to a road that went into the city. "Oh, look! There are Pokémon in that dark alley! Let's ask them if they know!" Amethyst pointed toward the group of mightyenas and houndooms in the shady alley previously spotted by Amethyst.

"Uhhh, how about we don't."

"Why not?" Amethyst asked, tilting her head.

"Something tells me it's just not a good idea."

Amethyst shrugged. "Whatever you say."

"Oh, you poor things!"

Amethyst blinked and turned her head back towards the voice's source. An old lady stood behind then with a sorrowful look in her eyes. "I'll take you guys to the Pokémon Center, you poor things."

"Well, that's convenient." Amethyst said, smiling. Cora took a defensive stance. The lady approached the shuckle and Cora growled. The lady flinched. "Cora! Relax; she just wants to help," Amethyst chastised.

"How do we know that? She might work for Team Rocket," Cora said, squinting her eyes at the lady.

"Seriously? How could this old lady work for Team Rocket? You must have been in there a long time to start thinking like that." Amethyst said, a dumbfounded look on her face.

"She could be in disguise."

The lady reached down to pick up the mudkip on Cora's shell. Cora attempted to snap at the lady, but was stopped by Amethyst. "Cora! Let her help." Cora gave Amethyst a skeptical look, but relented. The lady harmlessly picked up Xander and cradled him in her arms. "See, Cora. She just wanted to help."

"...I guess I have a lot to learn too, like "goodness" and "care." If those things actually exist."

"Oh, they do," Amethyst responded, gesturing to the old lady walking to left of them.

"I'm gonna get you poor guys to the Pokémon Center, don't worry." The old lady said as they crossed the street.

–––––––––––––––––––––

"How can it be so far away! We must have been walking for at least an hour!" Cora complained as she looked around for any sign of a Pokémon Center.

"Oh well. She said she'd help, so she will," Amethyst reasoned.

"I guess..."

"Well, come on now," The old lady gestured them in ", we can't leave this poor mudkip waiting, can we? It should be just around that corner." She looked to the corner ahead of them.

Cora and Amethyst simultaneously nodded. They rounded the apartment building, and they promptly spotted the signature look of a Pokémon Center. "Finally!" Cora exclaimed as they approached the automatic glass sliding doors that the red and white building held. The doors slid to the side and they all walked in. Xander screamed.

–––––––––––––––––––––-

A/N

Sorry if the length bothers you people that _do_ read this. I've been busy the past couple of weeks and I have to get back into the writing groove that I was in before. Anyway, I hope you enjoy.


	5. Chapter 4

"AHHHHHH!"

"What?! What's wrong?!"

"I can't be in here! Get me out of here!" Xander wriggled free of the old lady's grasp, causing her to gasp. Xander yelped as he flailed through the air, falling on his head on the tiled floor. Xander groaned, but got up. And failed. Xander dragged himself across the floor in the direction of the door. Slowly. Cora crawled in front of him and pushed him in the opposite direction. "I can't ...be in...here."

"Why?!"

"Because, it's a hospital!" Xander answered like it was the most obvious thing in the world.

"So?!"

"I...just can't," Xander lamely responded.

"Afraid of hospitals, are we?" Cora inquired with a smug look.

"What?! No. I just...hate them so much I can't stand to be in one," Xander explained.

Amethyst rolled her eyes and Cora chuckled. The old lady, currently standing politely to the side, gave them a questioning look. Amethyst nervously smiled at her and walked to Cora's side. "What are we going to do?"

Cora looked up in thought for a moment, then said: "You grab his tail fin thing, and I'll push him that way." She gestured to the front desk, where Nurse Joy was looking at them with a bemused expression.

Amethyst nodded. "What? No! You can't—OW!" Xander panicked and pushed away from her.

"Shorree," Amethyst apologized through Xander's fin. "It hash to be done." At this point Nurse Joy had gotten up and walked over to their group.

"What's going on?"

"Get your face off of my fin!"

"No!"

"The old lady looked up at the nurse. "I have no idea."

"Come on, Xander," Amethyst ordered.

"Never!" Xander shouted.

"Let's move, Amethyst," Said Cora. Xander flailed as the two Pokémon pushed him to nurse Joy.

"Oh my," said nurse Joy ", looks like somebody got into a bit of an accident." The nurse bent over to pick up Xander and he froze. Amethyst and Cora moved aside, allowing Joy to lift Xander.

–––––––––––––––––––––

"Well, that couldn't have gone any worse," Cora said.

"It could have been worse. Someone could have died," Amethyst suggested as they walked down the white-tiled hallway to Xander's room, led by the old lady.

"I can't believe Xander attacked nurse Joy." Amethyst sighed, dropping her head.

"And he had to get shot with a tranquilizer dart," Cora reminded, smirking at the memory. "And then they had to bring another nurse in," Said Cora, not hiding her amusement.

"I feel kind of bad for her. Hopefully she didn't lose too much blood."

"She'll be fine," Cora consoled, approaching the door to Xander's room.

The door opened and a nurse that wasn't Joy was inside next to the figure of a mudkip on a bed. A desk with a computer sitting on the top was to the right of the bed, and a counter with various medical tools was to the left. The nurse looked up from the clipboard in her hands and noticed the person and Pokémon in the doorway. "Okay." The nurse looked over at the mudkip, a sling on his left foreleg, bandages and stitches covering his legs, and a new bandage on his back. "The mudkip has to stay a couple of weeks until his leg heals. Unless he can stay with someone else, that is. Those two," she gestured to Amethyst and Cora ", are free to go, though the shuckle should probably eat first. It's slightly malnourished." The old lady nodded. "I'll send in some Pokémon food and let you go."

"Thank you, nurse."

"Mmmhmm," the nurse answered as she exited the room.

The lady looked towards Xander. "I guess that leaves you with some options, Mudkip. You can either stay here or come with me," she said. "Just come with me when I leave if you'd like. Do you two mind keeping him company while I go fill out the paperwork?" She asked, looking at Amethyst and Cora. They both shook their heads and the old lady smiled and nodded. She exited the room, leaving the trio on their own.

Xander looked down at the two with half lidded eyes. He groaned and slammed his head on the bed. Apparently, Cora found this very amusing, as her smirk had returned. "He has to choose to face his fears or stay with some old woman he doesn't know. Things just got interesting, it would seem."

"Be nice, Cora. Now, Xander, what will it be? Spend two weeks in a hospital or two weeks at the lady's house."

"I vote running away," Xander replied.

"We can't run away! It will only hurt you more," Amethyst reasoned.

"That's better than staying here or there."

Cora nodded. "I fully support whatever decision Xander makes. I don't want to be in either of those places either, and she might just be some Team Rocket member," Cora said, voicing her acceptance.

"Well if you two can't come up with a reasonable choice, we are staying with her," she said, stomping her paw to make her point.

"Why?!" Xander yelled.

"Because it will hurt her feelings if we don't."

"Who cares about her feelings? I want to leave!"

"Nope. We're staying at her house."

"But—"

"Xander, she's never going to change her mind. We either have to stay at her house or ditch her," Cora logically said.

"Mmmm, we can't ditch her. She wouldn't last a day alone in this city," Xander shot her idea down.

"You're right, but that leaves only staying at her place."

"Hey! I am perfectly capable of being on my own," Amethyst defended, looking away from the two.

Xander broke into laughter. "What's so funny?" Amethyst demanded, now getting annoyed.

"It's just...you, on your own. Ha!" Xander choked out in between laughs.

"Now, Xander, I'm sure she'd be fine," Cora defended. Xander's laughter just grew louder, however.

Amethyst pouted. The door clicked open open and they all went silent, looking at the door. A different nurse from the one earlier came in, carrying trays of Pokémon food on a steel cart. She stopped, picked up the dishes and set one down in front of each Pokémon. The nurse nodded to them with a smile and left, leaving them, once again, alone.

"...What is this stuff?" Xander questioned, disbelievingly looking at the brown puffs in his bowl.

"They look like cylinders of crap," Cora said.

"You have quite a way with words Cora... It's Pokémon food," Amethyst explained, picking one of the cylinders up in her mouth.

"Are they even edible?" Xander asked, eyeing Amethyst, who was dropping the "food" in her mouth.

"If it wasn't, why would they give it to us?"

"They're tricking us. This is actually a Team Rocket base and they're trying to kill us," Cora said.

Amethyst face...pawed? "They're not trying to kill us!"

–––––––––––––––––––––

"How did you ever convince me to do this?" Xander asked as he laid in a small Pokémon bed on the tan carpet.

"We were planning on ditching Amethyst once we got here," Cora reminded from the brown couch next to him.

"Ah, yes. It sounds better than ever."

"No, you're not leaving me here. You will stay," Amethyst said, peeking her head over the couch's arm and narrowing her eyes at him.

"Why does the mudkip with the crippled leg get this bed and you two get a couch?"

"We couldn't risk you hurting your leg trying to get up here," Amethyst explained.

"I could've gotten up there just fine."

Cora peaked her head around Amethyst. "We couldn't risk it, though. Plus, this couch is extremely comfortable."

"Ditching this place is sounding better and better..." Xander sighed.

"Don't ditch me!"

"We're not going to ditch you, Amethyst. Were simply going to politely leave you here with this lovely lady."

Amethyst turned her head to Cora and repeated: "You will stay."

–––––––––––––––––––––

Later that night...

"Are you ready to leave, Cora?"

"Um, Xander, we weren't actually going to leave Amethyst."

Xander blinked. "Oh..."

"You were actually going to leave me here, Xander?!"

"Err...no..." Xander sighed and limped back over to his small bed. At least this gives me time to look around, just in case things get so bad I do leave. The aforementioned brown couch was against a wall with an open window, flowers on the windowsill. A glass table was in front of the couch currently housing two Pokémon, various books covering the top. An old CRT television sat on a table in the far corner of the room, backed by the violet colored wallpaper... Xander nodded, satisfied with his little examination.

...

...

...

I have to get out of here.

–––––––––––––––––––––

Day 1 of 14...

Amethyst yawned loudly, opening her eyes. She was greeted by bright light streaming in through the window behind her. She smiled and snuggled deeper into the couch. "WAKE UP!" Amethyst's head snapped up, her eyes wide as she frantically searched for the source of the ruckus. Her eyes landed on the mudkip standing in front of her attempting to stifle his laughter.

"Yeah, ha ha, funny."

"It was funny."

"I'm laughing," Cora said, butting into their conversation.

"Oh, Cora. When did you wake up?" Amethyst tilted her head.

"No one could sleep through that. And I've been up all night. Sleep well, Xander?"

"Heh heh, yep. I slept well."

"Oh, really. Or did you have a restless night, like me?"

Sweat started dripping down Xander's forehead. "Nope, I slept great."

"Restless night... Xander, did you leave the house?" Amethyst asked, squinting her eyes at him.

"No—wait, why am I trying to hide this? Yes, I did leave," Xander stated smugly.

Amethyst pounced at Xander. "How did you even get out?! You have a broken leg!" She questioned from on top of Xander, careful not to touch his cast.

"I just climbed through the window."

–––––––––––––––––––––

"Is this really necessary?"

"It's for your own good, Xander."

Amethyst had chained Xander to the leg of the couch. "Where did you even find this chain?!"

"Storage," Amethyst simply said.

"Xander's in a world of hurt now," Cora stated in a chipper voice.

"Good morning—oh my. What happened?" The old lady said from a hallway a few feet in front of the couch, looking at the mess of books and shredded plants.

Amethyst smiled sheepishly at the lady. "Sorry."

The lady sighed. "I suppose I should have been expecting something like this, taking three Pokémon in."

"Now look what you've done, Amethyst," Xander criticized from behind her. Amethyst just looked back and glared at him.

"Calm down, Amethyst. Fighting like an old married couple isn't getting us anywhere," said Cora.

"She's right, Amethyst—wait, did you just compare us to an old married couple?"

"I did, and I stand by it."

"Shush, you guys. Cora's right, fighting won't help Xander's situation," Amethyst told them.

"Actually, I find the sounds of arguments soothing," Xander said.

Amethyst gave him an "are you kidding me" look and continued with her speech. "Anyway, we have to get through this together, for Xander. Xander won't get around his trust issues without our help, neither will he be able to make any friends."

"Hey!"

Amethyst continued, pacing back and forth. "So we need to quit fighting, help Xander overcome his doubts and get him through this two week period where he has to live with this old lady because I told him to."

"Well, that was either the most inspiring speech I've ever heard, or the most insulting. I'm still deciding," said Xander.

"No, Amethyst's right, Xander," Cora said, now realizing the truth of Amethyst's little rant.

The old lady looked at the group of Pokémon. "I guess I'll fix this later... How about some breakfast?" Amethyst nodded and walked into the kitchen.

Xander looked to Cora. "Hopefully it's not those food pellet things. I'll eat anything but those. Within reason," Xander said, getting up.

Cora nodded. "I agree completely," said Cora, walking to the kitchen.

Xander began to walk over, but remembered his chain. "Um, Cora could you undo this?"

Cora shrugged. "Don't have the key. I'll bring your food if you ask nicely, though."

"Please, bring me the food. Unless it's the brown stuff, in which case I'll eat the books."

They walked into the kitchen and saw Amethyst eating the brown garbage. "Here you go." The old lady handed a tray of brown crap to Cora. "Where's the other one?" Cora nodded to the living room. "Okay, then."

Cora heard the lady gasp and she chuckled. She looked at Amethyst eating her food on the other side of the kitchen, then looked back at her bowl. She squinted her eyes at the brown puffs. "Hey, Amethyst. What do these taste like?"

"Think of chocolate, then half the flavor."

Cora nodded. "Fair enough," she conceded, dropping her head down to pick up the "food" in her mouth. As soon as she swallowed the pellet, she said: "Hmm, you're right. These are edible."

–––––––––––––––––––––

"Well, today was fun," Cora said from her position on the couch.

"If by fun you mean boring and obnoxious, then yes it was fun," Xander said sarcastically from below Cora on his bed.

"Just shut it, Xander," ordered Amethyst.

"You know, Amethyst, you've been angry all day. Is something wrong?" Cora asked, looking at Amethyst.

"It's just...after seeing what Team Rocket does to Pokémon...it just makes me want to stop them, no matter the cost," Amethyst said, her ears drooping. "And then when you two said you'd ditch me, even if it was a joke, it still hurt. I thought I'd have to do that all alone... And Xander's so negative and it's really annoying."

"...I didn't realized we'd hurt you, Amethyst... We're sorry," Cora said, dropping her head.

"Yeah, we're sorry. Just don't make us try to destroy any evil organizations. If we did, we'd probably just die," Xander said wisely.

"Yeah, I guess we probably would..." Amethyst said.

"Xander, don't crush her dreams. Now get some sleep you two."

They both nodded and settled in, preparing for another hopefully not-so-eventful night.

–––––––––––––––––––––

A/N

Okay, so I just wanted to point this out. If you're afraid, angry, or anything of that manner that there are going to be fourteen chapters of this, don't be. There aren't going to be fourteen chapters of this. Just felt the need to point this out. Just in case.


	6. Chapter 5

Day 4 of 14

"I can't believe you did it again!" Amethyst screeched at the top of her lungs.

"It's not my fault! I can't take it anymore! I need to do something other than lay around all day!" Xander yelled.

"But—I—UGHHHH!" Amethyst groaned.

"Xander, quit making Amethyst mad. What do you even do out there that's so important anyway?" Cora questioned.

"I tour the city, obviously. I have to be prepared in case of the apocalypse, or something like that."

"Yeah, that makes no sense," Cora replied.

"Of course it doesn't. Xander's trying to play stupid," Amethyst said, obviously perturbed over the whole situation.

"I'm not playing stupid—"

"So you are stupid," Cora said, smirking.

"No, I'm not stupid. That's what I was actually doing, albeit not for the apocalypse. I was sightseeing," Xander simply stated.

"Uh huh. Why don't I come with you on one of these sightseeing trips," Cora suggested.

"No, I see sights alone."

"I'll come with Cora.," Amethyst said, nodding her head.

"Come on! Fine, you can come the next time I leave."

–––––––––––––––––––––

Day 14 of 14

"Really, you had to wait until the last day to go out," Amethyst said, a dumbfounded look adorning her face.

"Well, yeah. I can just take off my cast in the morning and we can leave. Now let's go, I'm tired of that old lady," replied Xander.

"Fair enough," said Cora, following Xander out the window. "You coming, Amethyst?"

Amethyst looked towards the hallway where the lady's room was."Can't we just wait until morning? Shell worry about us if we leave now."

"No, I'm tired of this place too. I'm leaving with or without you," Cora responded.

"Error, fine." Amethyst looked at Xander, who was standing on the windowsill waiting for her to makes decision. Amethyst sighed. "I'll come."

"Great, let's go. Now," Xander said, jumping out the window, Cora close behind.

Amethyst poked her head out the window. "How the heck did you land without hurting your leg?"

"Magic," Xander simply replied.

"He landed on a bush," Cora explained as Amethyst flailed out the window.

"Ouch... Oh, yeah, that's more believable," Amethyst said, picking herself up off of the concrete sidewalk.

Xander snickered at the eevee. "What's so funny?" She asked defensively.

"It's just that...you fell out of the window and it was funny," Xander explained.

Amethyst sighed. "Let's just...do whatever we came out here to do. What are we doing?"

"Well, the city itself isn't too big, so I figured I could show you around, then leave," Xander suggested reasonably.

"Good enough for me," said Cora.

Amethyst looked back at the yellow structure that housed the old lady. "We never even got her name..." Amethyst shook her head.

"Well it's her fault for never telling us. Besides, we'll just always remember her as "that one lady,"" said Cora.

Amethyst sighed. "I guess it's not important..." She turned her head to look at Xander. "Alright, I'm ready now."

"Great! The first stop is the Pokémart. We can get actual food there!" The pair of female Pokémon began walking down the concrete pathway, led by the limping Xander, who was humming an obnoxious tune.

"I didn't notice how big the buildings the first time we came here, but now that I look...wow... I'm impressed," Cora said, staring in awe at the monstrous structures towering above her.

"The first time I came I was a little intimidated by the size of them, but you kind of get used to it, I guess," said Amethyst.

Xander nodded. "I've gotten to know the city a little bit. Now that I think of it, I guess the primary purpose for me coming out here at night was just the adventure of discovering something new."

"Well why didn't you just say so in the first place?! You could've brought me!" Yelled Amethyst.

Xander groaned. "You know, Amethyst, maybe I might've if you didn't get like this over even the thought of adventure. You've got to tone it down a little."

Amethyst frowned. "Get like what?"

Cora sniggered and Xander gave her a dumbfounded look. "You can't be serious. Every time I've ever mentioned doing anything remotely exciting, you go insane and get all jumpy and stuff."

"Yeah, like just now. He told you the reason for his sneaking out at night was adventure, and you went berserk," Cora added.

"I...I guess I've never really noticed..." Amethyst's ears drooped. "I can try to keep myself under control, I guess."

"Cheer up, Amethyst. We're almost to the Pokémart." Xander pointed towards the blue and white building that looked very similar to a Pokémon Center.

"What's up with the blue Pokémon Center?" Inquired Cora.

"It's the Pokémart," explained Amethyst. "You can by berries there, potions, all that stuff. It's closed though."

"Yep. But it doesn't matter that it's closed, though. We're sneaking in," said Xander.

"What!" Amethyst shouted. "We can't sneak in! It's illegal!"

Xander chuckled. "It's illegal for people. We're Pokémon. Their rules don't apply to us," Xander explained.

"Great! That way if we do get caught, we'll just explain the loophole in their laws. We'll be helping them, Amethyst," Cora said in an attempt to persuade Amethyst to follow Xander's stupid plan.

Amethyst thought about it for a moment. "Hmmm...makes sense, I guess, but how are we even going to get in?"

Xander snorted in amusement. "They don't even lock up; they just turn off their automatic doors. We just have to pull them open. Idiots."

"Wait, so you've been sneaking in? For what?" Amethyst asked, a confounded look on her face.

"For real food, of course. I'm never eating those dumb food pellet things..." Xander grumbled.

"They're aren't that bad if you eat them for a while," Cora said. "You just have to get used to the flavor."

"Whatever, I'm going in. You guys coming?" Xander questioned, looking the pair over.

"Yes—"

"No!" Amethyst exclaimed. "Wait, did you just say yes cora?"

"Mmmhmmm. Come on, Xander, let's go."

Xander smiled, nodding his head in approval. "Okay then, let's go, Cora." Cora followed Xander to the Pokémart, leaving amethyst sitting on the concrete.

"Okay, I'll just sit here. Alone. In the middle of the night in a large city with gangs everywhere," Amethyst said in a pathetic attempt to stop Xander and Cora's thievery.

"Oh, so now you know about the gangs," Cora sarcastically said, glancing behind her shell to see Amethyst roll her eyes.

Xander approached the sliding doors. "Hey, Cora! Can you give me a hand...or tentacle thing...or whatever you have?" Xander queried, scrunching his face in confusion over Cora's tentacle-like legs. "What are those things anyway?"

"It doesn't matter," Cora replied, dismissing Xander's question. Cora placed her jaw on the bottom of one of the automatic doors, pulling it open with ease. "There we go, the doors are open," Cora said, turning her head to look at Xander's dumbstruck face. "You coming?"

"Yeah... How did you do that?! Your neck can't be that strong!"

"It is. I exercised it trying to push my cage's bars back in Rocket Prison open. I could of sworn I'd felt one move one of those times..." Cora said.

"Uh, Cora," Xander said, waving one of his legs in front of her face. "You're zoning out. Snap out of it!" Xander quietly yelled, using his annoyed tone of voice. "We've got to get in there! I haven't eaten all day and I'm gonna die if I don't eat soon."

"You haven't eaten all day? I thought you said you'd never eat the Pokémon food stuff. What did you eat?"

–––––––––––––––––––––

Meanwhile, back at the nameless old lady's house...

The old woman was just getting ready to go to bed, and she decided checking on the Pokémon she was housing was probably a good idea. The lady walked down the hallway leading to her room and a small bathroom, smiling happily. And then she saw her living room.

"What happened to all of my books?!"

–––––––––––––––––––––

"...Let's just go in," Xander said, cringing at the thought of the foul tasting books.

"...Alright," Cora relented, following Xander into an aisle stocked with various different types of berries. The berries were kept in small clear glass jars, allowing you to see the sliced fruit floating in juice inside. "Are you sure these are edible. At least Pokémon food is crunchy."

"Well I've eaten them and didn't die. I'm sure they taste better than the brown stuff," Xander said through the glass container being held in his mouth.

Cora nodded her head in agreement, snickering as Xander tried "opening" the jar. "Do you need a little help, Xander," Cora asked when Xander just gave up and started banging the glass container on the tiled floor.

Xander set down the berries and sighed. "Sure..." Cora wrapped a tentacle around the container's lid and twisted it off with little to no trouble. Cora smirked at Xander, eliciting a groan from the mudkip.

"How are you gonna get it out, Xander," Cora taunted, laughing at Xander's annoyance.

"Like this." Xander simply pushed the jar over, spilling the contents all over the floor. Xander leaned his head down and slurped up the soaked berries.

"That's kind of gross actually," Cora said, scrunching her face up in disgust.

"Hey, you!"

Xander and Cora's eyes widened simultaneously. They heard footsteps, gradually growing in power as they got closer. Xander turned his head and saw a man in an apron rapidly approaching. "Run, Xander!" Cora had already been escaping. Xander slowly nodded, following Cora's lead down the aisle of berries. He reached the end of the aisle and scurried around the corner with Cora, only to trip on the cast on his leg and land on his face. The man's steps boomed in Xander's ears as he laid on the ground, chewing at the cast that was restricting his movement. The cast was made of a fairly thick material, so before he could get the cast off the man grabbed him. Being carried across the store was not a very pleasant experience for Xander, as he was held in an awkward position and then thrown out the door. He could've sworn he saw his life flash before his eyes before he hit the ground, but it was probably just the glare of the street lights around him. He landed on his head, unconsciousness greeting him.

–––––––––––––––––––––

"Xander..."

Xander groaned.

"Xander..."

Xander suddenly became aware of two presences standing next to him. Probably because he could feel their breaths on his...blubber, skin stuff. Xander was lying down on his back in the grass under a tree located in a park in the middle of the city. Cora had just finished checking his heart beat, raising her head from Xander's chest, and Amethyst was leaning her head down to his ear.

"XANDER!"

Xander jerked up, his ears ringing and a powerful headache threatening to burst his skull. "Wha...what?"

"Oh, you're awake...good..." Cora said with obviously faked enthusiasm.

"Cora!" Amethyst exclaimed.

"What...what's that supposed to mean?" Xander asked, his ears still ringing and his headache flaring with every word.

"It's just that you've caused so much trouble, and if you were dead I wouldn't have to babysit you."

Amethyst facepawed and Xander's eye twitched. "I'm the one that's trouble? We had to free you from Team Rocket...and..." Xander had to rub his temples when his headache flared again.

"Just be quiet, guys. Now that Xander's cast is off—"

Xander cut Amethyst off. "My cast is off?" Xander said, looking down at his leg.

"Yeah, we took it off earlier this morning—" Amethyst got cut off again.

"Morning?" Xander looked into the sky to see the sun was up. "Oh yes, now we can finally leave!" Xander shouted , excitement clear in his voice.

"Yes, that's what I was getting to," Amethyst continued. "Once we get out of here we can go back to our caves. My parents are probably wondering where I am."

Xander nodded. "What are we waiting for? Let's go!"

"Wait, Xander." Amethyst stopped Xander in his tracks. "There's just one more thing to do. Cora, where are you going?"

"I thought I'd just wander until I found somewhere to stay."

"Sounds good, Cora. I'm going with or without you," Xander informed, walking away.

Amethyst rolled her eyes. "You don't know where you're going, Xander." That stopped him dead in his tracks. "I know where a cave is near my own cave. Maybe you can stay there, Cora."

"There's another cave!" Xander exclaimed from behind Amethyst.

"How about no. I'd rather wander," Cora explained.

"I guess I can't make you stay with us. I guess this is goodbye then."

"Yeah... Goodbye, Amethyst," Cora farewelled, walking away from the two of them.

"Oh, uh...good by Cora!"

"Yeah, goodbye. Let's go," Xander urged.

Amethyst looked back in Cora's direction one more time and sighed. "Okay, let's go, Xander," She said, approaching Xander and walking ahead of him, Xander close behind.

"Hopefully there are some berries on the way back."

–––––––––––––––––––––

A/N

Sorry for the long wait. School's started and chapters are going to come slower. I hope you enjoyed, for whatever reason.


	7. Chapter 6 - End of Arc 1

"Okay, so...I'm ninety-nine percent sure the forest is that way," said Amethyst, pointing in a seemingly random direction.

"Now look who doesn't know where they're going," Xander grumbled. "And you're wrong. It's actually that way."

"How exactly do you know that?"

"Remember when I snuck out and explored the city? Yeah, that's how," Xander said, rolling his eyes.

"You only did that, like, twice! You can't honestly expect me to believe that you memorized the entire city in two nights!" Amethyst yelled.

"Is that an insult to my intelligence?"

Amethyst sighed and just gestured for him to lead the way. Xander contentedly smiled and walked ahead of Amethyst. In truth, Xander didn't actually memorize the city, he just saw some trees over some of the smaller buildings and decided it would be better to look there than keep wandering the city. As they approached the city's edge the duo realized something: nothing around them seemed familiar in any way.

"Now look what you did, Xander! You got us even more lost! And it's almost nighttime. We won't be able to see anything!"

"Hey, what happened to the happy, joyful Amethyst I knew?"

"She died with my heart. Team Rocket's changed me," Amethyst explained, a distant look in her eyes.

"...Uh huh, okay..." Xander lamely responded, completely at a lack for words. He's never had to deal with drama of this magnitude before and it's overwhelming him. "I, uh...got us closer to the forest! We just have to walk around the city until we find what seems familiar. Problem solved."

Amethyst facepawed and groaned. "The city is huge, Xander. Do you know how long it will take us to get around the entire thing?"

"It can't be any longer than searching for it from the inside," said Xander, a deadpanned expression on his face.

Amethyst gave in to Xander's ridiculous idea with a sigh and followed Xander in the wrong direction.

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"See, what did I tell you? We found it!" Xander said, gesturing towards the forest, the sun rising over the trees, welcoming a new day.

Amethyst was practically seething with anger. "That took all night! And I'm pretty sure we passed this spot a couple of times in the dark. Ughhh!"

"Well atleast I came up with a plan that actually got us here. You were just walking in random directions..." Xander grumbled. "If it makes you feel any better, you can lead the way back?"

"You know what? I will," declared Amethyst, stomping ahead of Xander.

The pair's journey through the forest was surprisingly dull, considering the luck they'd had so far. There were no Team Rocketers trying to kill them, there were no broken legs, and there were no Pokémon attacking them, although an aipom once threw acorns at Xander's face. Once they emerged into the clearing with the Team Rocket building in the mountain, which was not in very good condition after the huge crowd of Pokémon stampeded through it, Xander and Amethyst encountered a problem.

"How the heck are we going to get up the side of that mountain?!" Xander yelled, searching for any possible route to climb the cliff.

"Umm..." Amethyst came up with a blank. "We're probably going to have to go around..." said Amethyst, sighing.

"What?! Do you remember how long it took us to go _through_ the mountain? It'll take us days to go around!"

Amethyst just sighed. "I know...but what other choice do we have?"

With a groan, Xander capitulated. "Where was that attitude when I needed it this morning?" He grumbled.

"I get grumpy in the morning," she explained, walking ahead of Xander once again. "Now come, we must venture forth into the uncharted wild of the forest."

"If it's uncharted, why would Pokémon be living in it?" Xander questioned, following Amethyst.

Amethyst squinted her eyes at Xander. "...Don't ruin my fun, Xander."

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"So, um...Xander, how about that weather?" Asked Amethyst, attempting small talk with the antisocial mudkip.

Xander looked up at the gray cloud covered sky and put on a thoughtful expression, eventually coming up with a reasonable answer. "It's good."

Amethyst nodded, apparently satisfied with the response. They still hadn't made it around the mountain's front, despite the fact that they've been walking non stop for two hours. Incidentally, the mountain was bigger than they'd originally thought. Xander's luck probably had a role in this.

"You know, Xander, I've never actually gotten the chance to know you. How about I ask you questions and you ask me questions? It'll be like truth or dare without the dare."

Err...fine," Xander grunted, obviously not in a very good mood.

"Hmmm... What's your favorite food?" Asked Amethyst

"Oran berries."

"Great! Now you ask me a question," said Amethyst.

"How long is this game gonna last?" Queried Xander, genuinely interested in the answer.

Amethyst rolled her eyes. "Until you can ask me a good question, Xander."

"Okay..." Xander thought about it for a few minutes. "What do _you_ think about this weather?"

With a groan, Amethyst responded. "It looks like it's going to rain and it's all gloomy. What is your favori—"

"Hey!" Xander cut her off. "You said this game would only last until I asked a good question. I asked a good question. Therefore, this game is over." Amethyst didn't say another word after that. She was tired and kind of mad at Xander for ruining her fun, and Xander was just glad he didn't have to play that game anymore. So in high-ish spirits, the two Pokémon continued their adventure around the mountain.

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Amethyst and Xander were well on their way to walking around the entire mountain, but, again, they ran into a problem. A rockslide had covered a narrow passage they had found going around the side of the mountain a few hours before.

"Are you kidding me? A rock slide? Seriously?" Amethyst whined, not to happy about this turn of events.

"Well, Amethyst, we're probably going to have to go around..." Xander mimicked.

Amethyst narrowed her eyes at the mudkip. "We are not going around. We shall climb!" Amethyst exclaimed, jumping onto the boulder closest to her, which was very wet. She slid off almost instantly, which Xander found very humorous.

"Ha ha!" Xander laughed at Amethyst's misfortune, causing the eevee frustration.

"Let's see you do it, Xander..." She muttered.

Xander heard her. "Okay, I'll do it," he said, walking to the boulder Amethyst fell from.

"Be careful, Xander. As annoying as you are, I don't want you to get hurt," Amethyst warned worriedly.

This caused Xander to roll his eyes. "Don't worry, Amethyst. I got this." Xander bounced onto the first rock, not sliding off like Amethyst did. "See, easy. You just have to know where to jump," he explained, jumping onto another boulder.

Amethyst nodded and, boldened, followed Xander up the rocky landscape. The two Pokémon repeated the process until they reached the top. Amethyst was getting ready for her last jump, one Xander had made a moment before. She was panting heavily and didn't look to be in any condition to make this jump. "Come on, Amethyst. It's just one more rock and you've already made it this far. What could go wrong?"

She nodded and got into a jumping stance. "The rocks around this one seem to be pretty loose, though. I wouldn't put too much weight on it." Amethyst nodded again before jumping. The rock beneath her came loose and fell down right after she left the ground. Her eyes widened. She barely hit the top of the rock in front of her, which shook under Amethyst's weight. "Amethyst, you've got to climb up very carefully," Xander instructed.

Amethyst just nodded dumbly. She began pawing her way up the large rock, shaking it with every movement. When she made it to the top she let out a sigh, then picked herself up. This caused the boulder the come dislodged. And fall. "AAAAHHHHH!" The she stopped falling.

Xander grunted, the weight of the eevee he was carrying by the tail was almost too much for him to handle. To an outside viewer it might of looked like he was dangling the poor Pokémon over a ledge by the tail, which would probably put a bad image of him in the forest Pokémon's minds. Luckily, no one was nearby and he managed to pull Amethyst up without a problem.

Amethyst rolled onto her back and closed her eyes when she got to safety. "You're not going to die on me now, are you?" Xander sarcastically asked.

Amethyst looked at Xander. "You-y-y-you," She was too shocked to speak.

Xander responded by sighing and walking past Amethyst. "Come on, Amethyst. The sooner we get back, the better."

Amethyst shakily got to her paws and ineptly scrambled after Xander.

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"Y-you saved me!"

After a few hours Amethyst finally found her voice. Apparently she hadn't been prepared for the biggest shock of her life.

"Amateur adventurers..." Xander muttered.

"What was that?"

"Nothing. And of course I saved you. Why wouldn't I?" Xander asked.

Amethyst suddenly became shy. "Well...I thought you hated me..."

"Hate you? What made you think that?"

"You haven't exactly been _nice_ to me these past few weeks."

Xander got a pensive expression. "Oh yeah...I guess not. I guess I should really work on my social skills."

"So...you _don't_ hate me?" Amethyst asked hopefully.

"No. I only mildly dislike you."

Amethyst apparently didn't hear that last part because she jumped for joy. Yes, she actually jumped. For joy. "That's so nice of you, Xander! That has got to be the kindest thing you've ever said."

"It is as far as I can remember. I didn't have any reason to be nice before now. Those were the good days..."

"Oh! I think we're almost there, Xander!" Amethyst announced, jogging ahead of Xander. "Yes! There's the tunnel thing! And there's the path!" Amethyst excitedly ran to the dirt walkway leading to her clearing. Xander sighed. _This is what you get when you're nice, Xander. This is what you get..._

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"Ah, home sweet home," Amethyst said, rolling on the grass sighing contentedly.

"Yay, we're back. Now where's that other cave you were talking about? And why didn't you tell me about it in the first place?"

Amethyst sighed again. "If you really need it, it's behind the bushes over there." She pointed to the right of the lake. "It's all yours. And to answer your question, sometimes I get lonely."

"Thank you, Amethyst," Xander thanked, wandering over to the cave's supposed location. "Ah, here it is." A relatively small cave was dug into the ground behind the bushes. Trees branches covered the air above it, offering shade and a little rain protection. It had stone walls and floor, which was strange considering it was dug into the dirt, but Xander wasn't about to complain as he entered the shabby opening.

"Will it work, Xander?" Xander gave a start and jumped, frightened by the unexpected voice.

Amethyst giggled. "Wow, Xander. I didn't know you were so jumpy."

"I'm usually not. I just don't take very kindly to Pokémon just _wandering_ into my living area. And, yes, it will do just fine."

"Good, because it's the last cave I have around here. I promise." Amethyst assured. "Anyways, I'll be over there if you need me, otherwise...try not to die."

"Will do, landlord," said Xander, walking deeper into his new cave.

Amethyst nodded and left Xander to not die. Xander yawned and looked at the sun. Upon seeing it was only about four o'clock, he decided it was too early to sleep. His stomach growled, reminding him he hadn't eaten much of anything in the past few weeks. "Hopefully finding food won't be too hard around her," he said as he walked out of his cave. "I'm not going to settle for anything less than an oran berry—" Xander was cut off by the delicious sight of the blue oran berries hanging on a bush next to his home.

"Perfect!" Xander grabbed an oran berry off the bush and took a large bite out of it, sighing as the delicious juices slid down his throat. "Yeah, this will definitely work out," said Xander, nodding in satisfaction. He took another look at the sun. _You know what, screw the daytime, I'm tired._ He ate the rest of his berry and sulked into his cave. He yawned once more before lying down. _Hopefully Amethyst doesn't make more do anything tomorrow *yawn*. I just feel like laying down and doing nothing the rest of the month._

He closed his eyes and drifted into sleep, snoring loud enough that Amethyst could hear it from the other side of the field every so often. Amethyst smiled as she dipped herself into the clear blue water. The last time she'd cleaned herself was two weeks ago and, being the female she was, that was way too long for her. She looked back toward her cave and grinned when she got out, tail swishing back and forth excitedly. "Welp, I guess it's time to start planning our next adventure!"

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A/N

Hello! I wanted to use this to thank you for your reviews and such. Thank you. You can probably expect more chapters soon-ish. So, yeah. Thank you again and...good day.


	8. Interlude - Family Troubles

A/N

Okay, so you don't exactly _have_ to read this chapter. It's mostly just a break in the story I just decided to write for fun. It will probably have very little to do with the actual story.

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"So where have you been, Amethyst. We went over to your cave a few times, but you were never there."

Amethyst nodded to her father. "I wasn't at my cave for the past couple of weeks. I just got back yesterday."

"Really?" Chloe, Amethyst's mother, spoke up from a few feet to the left of Amethyst. "Where were you?" She asked, tilting her head at the eevee.

"I was with a friend!" Amethyst spoke excitedly.

"Oh, which friend?" The larger espeon questioned.

"Xander!" She gestured to the mudkip hiding himself in the tall grass to avoid conversation.

"Xander? Wasn't he that mudkip who asked us for directions to Goldenrod?" Chloe looked to her mate.

"No, he asked us for information on where he was, chloe," Jeffrey answered.

"Oh? You guys have met him?" Amethyst asked with a tilt of her head.

"Briefly," said Jeffrey.

Chloe nodded. "But we had no idea you had met him."

"Yep!" Amethyst grinned. "Xander, get out here!"

"No!"

"Yes!"

"No!

Amethyst looked to her parents. "Will you excuse me for a second?" She walked to where the mudkip was hiding, walked around him, grabbed his back fin in her mouth and dragged him into their conversation. Xander would have fought back, but Amethyst's parents were already going to kill him. No need to make it worse.

"Then allow me formally introduce you to Xander," Amethyst declared. "Xander, these are my parents, Chloe and Jeffrey."

"So, what exactly _were_ you doing while you were gone?" Chloe asked skeptically.

"I've also been wondering the same thing," Jeffrey included.

"We went adventuring!" Amethyst answered cheerfully.

"What exactly does this... _adventuring_ entail?" Jeffrey asked, squinting his eyes at Xander, who was shrinking under the father's gaze.

Amethyst suddenly became pensive. "Well, we went through a tunnel in a mountain following a restaurant menu. Then we fell off a cliff—"

"You fell off a cliff!" Amethyst's father practically screamed.

"Dad! I'm telling my story! Anyway, next we went into one of Team Rocket's lair—"

"What?!"

"Dad!" Amethyst exclaimed. "You're the one who taught me to be polite, don't be so hypocritical. Now, where was I? Oh yes, the Team Rocket base lair thing. We went in and freed all of the Pokémon in it. And then Xander broke his leg and we had to spend two weeks in Goldenrod. Then we came home and...here we are!"

Amethyst's father was squinting at Xander and her mother was looking in awe at her daughter. "That sounds amazing, Amethyst!" Chloe exclaimed.

Jeffrey gawked at his mate. "Amazing?! Chloe, she could've—"

Chloe cut him off. "Why didn't you ever do something like that with me, Jeffrey?" Chloe demanded.

Jeffrey didn't know how to respond to that. "Well-I-uh..." He stammered.

"Now we're too old to do anything like that," pouted Chloe.

"I-uh.. You're acting like a kid, Chloe," Jeffrey accused.

Amethyst rolled her eyes. "You should know better than everyone that me and mom have free spirits, dad."

Xander just stared in confusion at the family before him. "Wait...so I'm not going to die?"

"Well, that's not yet decided—"

"Of course not! If anything, you should be thanked," Chloe stated, cutting Jeffrey off.

"But—"

"Yeah! That was the best time I've ever had, even if you were extremely annoying," Amethyst assured, again, cutting off Jeffrey.

"Wow, thanks guys. I guess I've never really thought about it like that." Normally Xander would've disagreed just for the sake of disagreeing, but he wasn't going to curve the conversation to Jeffrey's favor. He wants to kill Xander, after all.

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After Xander got done meeting with Amethyst's parents, which was a huge relief to Xander because he could've sworn he actually saw a death glare in her father's eyes, they both started walking back to their respectful homes. Followed by Amethyst's parents. At least Xander didn't have to look into Jeffrey's eyes. Or talk to him.

"So Xander lives _with_ you?"

"No, dad. He just lives in the same clearing as me," Amethyst corrected.

"That's kind of you, Amethyst," said Chloe. "At least I raised you correctly, right, Amethyst?"

"Well, I wouldn't say dad raised me wrong, he just...didn't know how."

Jeffrey growled, obviously aggravated over the whole situation. "Let's move to a different topic, shall we? How about what we were talking about before this; your adventures."

"We already went over all of this, dad," Amethyst responded, raising an eyebrow at her father.

"How about going into more detail. What exactly did you do to free the Pokémon in that Team Rocket base?"

"Oh. Well, we walked in, found a hallway, and then we got chased through the hallways. We got split up and, I don't know what happened to Xander, but I got attacked and sprained my leg. Luckily it healed pretty quickly. Ummm... Oh! We met a shuckle named Cora. Nice person. We found a control room, Xander got attacked and blah blah blah we freed the Pokémon!" Amethyst cheered that last part as if it had just happened moments ago.

"I see... Xander can I speak with you. Alone."

Xander froze at Jeffrey's words, but nodded. Jeffrey gesture to his left, behind a few bushes and trees, and walked in, reluctantly followed by Xander.

"Huh. What do you think they're talking about, mom?" Amethyst asked, looking toward her mother.

"I dunno, probably some stupid concerned father thing," Chloe logically stated, laying down on the grass. "This may take a while."

Amethyst looked in the two males' direction and slowly nodded, following Chloe's lead and laying down. There was a barely audible voice coming from the direction the two of them walked looked to her daughter. "Just...ignore it."

As Chloe said, it did take a while. A good thirty minutes. Eventually though, Xander did walk out of the bushes with a blank stare, interrupting the females' conversation. Jeffrey was close behind, wearing a slightly scary satisfied smile.

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"So, what exactly did you two talk about when you were in those bushes?"

"I...I don't want to talk about it," Xander replied to Amethyst's question.

"Why not? Discussing your problems is always the best way to get over them," Amethyst wisely stated, stomping a paw to better show her point. This caused a splash in the lake water she was bathing in, hitting Xander's tired face on the shore.

"It's too painful to talk about..." Xander answered with a distant stare. "And keep your water to yourself. Just because I'm a water type doesn't mean I like getting wet."

This earned an eyeroll from the eevee. "Okay, whatever," she sighed, sliding farther into the water. "Ugh, guys..."


	9. 7 - The Joy of Adventure

A/N

Hello. Welcome to the first official chapter of the next part of the story. I honestly didn't think I would get this far when I started, but I'm glad I did. This has got to be the longest I've ever spent time on anything ever. Just going to pat myself on the back for a second... Anyway, enjoy!

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"Xander!"

Four days. For _four_ days Amethyst has been waking Xander up like that. _Four_ days. _Four_. Naturally, Xander was extremely annoyed, as it's just in his nature. He didn't waste any time in boldly fighting back to his cruel punishment.

"Ugghhhh... Let me sleep, Amethyst..."

"Nope!" Amethyst cheerfully replied. "We have to get started on the adventure I planned and—"

"What? You can't be serious. Another adventure? Only a week after our last one?" Xander asked, slackjawed. "It's only been a week since my broken leg recovered. Do you realize that it could still be fragile?"

Amethyst rolled her eyes. "That's why we have to toughen it up, Xander. Walking works wonders on your legs," Amethyst logically reasoned. "Now get up. I don't have the not ire thing planned so I figured you would help."

"That's probably for the best. Somebody has to put logic into your stupid ideas," Xander said sarcastically.

"Exactly. Now I was thinking that we'd go invade those Menacing Bandit's dryland in the West like my original idea—"

"Um, Amethyst. Do you know what those guys _do_ to intruders? They hang them on a wall and shoot them with arrows. Do you want that to happen to you, Amethyst?" Xander inquired.

"...No, but life is all about risks. If we don't do it, we won't know if we are _able_ to do it," Amethyst stated with her usual illogical logic.

"Amethyst, that is the stupidest thing I have ever heard. And I've heard some pretty stupid things." Xander may like the idea of adventure and exploration, but when he puts his life on the line for one stupid thing it changes his entire angle of view. "What would we even do there, anyway?"

"That's an easy one. We just need to get into their vault of treasure and take all we can get. We'll be rich, Xander! _Rich_."

"Oh, so it's okay to break into somebody else's treasure vault, but breaking into a Pokémart for some oran berries to survive is wrong?" Xander questioned, raising an eyebrow.

"Well, what you said got me thinking... You're right. Human laws don't apply to Pokémon. Neither do bandit laws. So, following that logic, it is totally fine if we take their fortune," said Amethyst smartly. "Now, again, come on."

Xander sighed in defeat. No one is better at arguing than a female. You just can't win. So Xander got up and followed Amethyst to her cave, where she had paper after paper with all sorts of different plans for adventures covering it.

"I stayed up all night writing this. It finally paid off though. I have every adventure for the next..." Amethyst stopped to count something on her sheets, "...lifetime planned!"

Xander's eyes widened. "W-what? Lifetime?! You can't seriously think I'm going to be doing this for the rest of my life."

"Oh, of course not." Xander sighed in relief. "Someday we're going to be too old to adventure."

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"There we go. All set! How about you, Xander?"

After the events in Amethyst's cave and Xander spending two hours explaining why he couldn't adventure with her for the rest of his life, the dynamic duo was finally preparing to leave to the Bandit's Dryland in the West. And probably their doom.

"I've been ready for the past twenty minutes, Amethyst." While Xander decided to pack lightly, only bringing along extra food and blankets, Amethyst might as well have taken her cave out of the ground and brought it with her with all the stuff she was bringing. She basically had whatever could fit in her bags with her. Half of her living space was now gone.

Amethyst pulled out her trusty map and looked over it for a few seconds. "Okay, then. Let us go venture into the wilderness!" This got a grin out of Amethyst and a grunt from Xander.

"Do you always have to talk like that when we adventure?" Xander asked, following Amethyst into the forest.

"Of course I do. It makes it seem like some sort of medieval adventure or something," Amethyst defended.

Xander sighed at Amethyst's usual behavior. Amethyst was always like this. Xander got annoyed at her. She defended herself with something stupid. It was the game they played. Of course Xander didn't take it as a game. He just wanted Amethyst to shut up.

So, they walked through the forest, a very awkward silence enshrouding the two Pokémon. "So, Xander. If we get rich after all of this, what would you do with the money?" Amethyst asked.

Xander thought he could almost see dollar signs in her eyes when he answered. "I'd probably find a bigger cave far away from here and pay people to stay away from me. You?"

"I'd buy a castle and become the princess of Hoenn and eat a ton of pecha berries while my advisors do all of my work for me."

Xander nodded. Sounds fair enough. They got into an intense game of no talking as they ventured further into the forest.

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So...the desert ...

...

...it's hot...

"...It's hot," complained Amethyst. Xander rolled his eyes and readied a water gun, aiming straight for Amethyst's face. Amethyst got bombarded with a continuous stream of clear water, straight from Xander's mouth. "Blurgghh!" Amethyst gurgled.

Xander stopped his water gun. "What was that?"

"I said that was awesome! That water was so cool and refreshing... Do it again!"

Xander complied, finding joy in blasting the eevee with lots of water. "Ahh..." Amethyst sighed in content. "I can't wait until we get out of this desert. It's pretty much a dry land of nothingness."

"I couldn't agree more," Xander...well, agreed. "As fun as it it watching you overheat and blasting you with water, I'm _hot."_

 _"_ At least you're a water type. I have a huge fur coat!"

"Okay, so...I'll admit that you won there..." Xander admitted.

Amethyst raised her head triumphantly, a grin donned upon her face. Xander just rolled his eyes at her smug behavior. _Maybe if I don't squirt her with water, she'll pass out by the time we get out of the desert,_ thought Xander.

For the next two or so hours the duo travelled through the desert at a snail's pace, the heat being too much for Amethyst and Xander being just barely kind enough to stay behind with her. Eventually they reached a small village with desert Pokémon all around. "Wait, there are _Pokémon_ towns. When did this happen?" Asked Xander.

"Umm, they've always been here," replied Amethyst with a raised eyebrow, to which Xander responded by looking away, embarrassed. "You've never been to one?" Xander shook his head. Amethyst was going to say something, but thought against it. No use in questioning Xander's antisocial tendencies.

"Anyway, this must be the bandit's land." She pulled out her amazing map and looked it over. "Yep. It's called Wano. Heh, Wano... That's a funny name."

Xander looked over Amethyst's shoulders at the map. "It looks like it's on the outskirts of the Drylands. To get to the capital we have to go farther and get to the middle," Xander explained. "It looks like the capital is...Barren."

Amethyst nodded. "And it doesn't look like it's that far from here. Probably just ten or twenty miles."

"Well, it's settled. We go to Barren and...steal their riches..." Xander said with a sigh.

"What's wrong, Xander?" Amethyst asked, tilting her head.

"It's nothing." Xander's stomach growled loudly. "Hey, we should check if they have any restaurant or something."

Amethyst nodded in agreement and the two of them set out to find a restaurant. Amethyst frowned at the odd looks the Pokémon gave them as they entered the old west-like village. The wooden buildings were both built in straight lines with a dirt road in between. It was essentially your average, everyday cliché old western movie town. "Why do you think they're looking at us like that, Xander?"

Xander shrugged. "I don't know. Probably because we're outsiders and we're different than the rest of them."

"I guess that makes sense," replied Amethyst. "I guess we have to dress like the locals to keep our inconspicuousness."

Xander took a look at the local fashion. "They're wearing sombreros and fake mustaches... That doesn't make sense! This is the old west!"

Amethyst disagreed completely. "You're crazy. This style is amazing!" Amethyst argued.

Xander groaned. He didn't want to wear that. Not only is it stupid, but it's the ugliest thing he's ever seen. Plus he didn't look good in hats. "Let's just go find somewhere to eat..."

"No! First we need to get some clothes, then we can eat. And look! There's a store right there!" The aforementioned store Amethyst saw looked the exact same as every other building, the only difference being the large window in the front displaying what they sold. Sombreros and mustaches.

"The store is called Sombreros and Mustaches," Xander said, dumbfounded. But the unimaginative name only excited the eevee more. Amethyst was literally shaking with excitement.

"Let's go; I've got to put that mustache on!" Amethyst bounded through the door, leaving Xander behind sighing.

"Let's just get this over with..."

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Xander sighed... _At least Pokémon weren't looking at him anymore... That was the goal...right?_ Thought Xander. In truth, Amethyst didn't mind the extra attention the locals gave her. She just thought the hat and mustache were cool.

"Wow... This...this is...even better than I thought it would be!" Amethyst exclaimed, twirling her new mustache.

Xander stepped up beside Amethyst and groaned. "Yeah, it's not better. It's worse."

"Hey, Xander. Can you squirt me with some water. This outfit is hot." Xander soaked her with water. "Ah, that's better," the drenched eevee said.

"Yeah, so how about that food?" Xander reminded.

"Oh, right. I brought some money with me in my bag..." Amethyst dug into her bag for a few minutes, eventually coming up with a bag of coins. "Here they are! _Now_ we can go eat, Xander. You're so impatient sometimes."

Xander simply rolled his eyes. _Amethyst is probably just trying to get on my nerves,_ thought Xander consolingly. He sighed and followed Amethyst to find a restaurant. After two hours of that, Amethyst finally decided to follow Xander's pleas and ask for directions.

"Hello my good sir," Amethyst greeted an old sandslash, him too wearing the ridiculous garb. "Would you happen to know where one could eat around these parts?"

The sandslash gave her an odd look, but answered nonetheless. "Yeah...just around that corner over there," he answered, gesturing his head down the street.

"Why thank you, kind sir," said Amethyst, tipping her sombrero at the sandslash, who responded by slowly backing away with an odd look on his face. Amethyst just shrugged it off, labeling it as part of the Pokémon's culture or something. "Huh. Well, you heard the old guy, to around that corner!"

Xander sighed. He's been doing that a lot lately, but he was justified. Yeah, he was never going to get used to Amethyst's odd behavior. So, they went around the corner, immediately noticing a single modern looking building with the word "Restaurant" at the top of it. And by modern, I mean stone, as that is the newest building material the Pokémon had produced. "Is every building in Wano this uncreative. Seriously, they just called it _Restaurant_. And what's up with it. It's the only stone building in this entire place."

"Oh, quit complaining, Xander. At least you can get your food."

Xander couldn't argue with that logic, so he simply tailed Amethyst into the restaurant.

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"Welcome to the "Restaurant"! Sit tight, we'll seat you in just a second," said the waitress at the front of the restaurant, a roselia.

The fantastic duo nodded and the Roselia walked somewhere in the back. Xander took a glance at what some of the Pokémon here were eating. It looked like it was mainly berries and vegetables, but some meat was also scattered around, most likely for meat eating Pokémon.

Amethyst looked over Xander's shoulder. "Wow, this all looks so good... I wonder what they'll have on their menu." Xander nodded. He hadn't ever had a meal like this. He'd never been to a Pokémon restaurant and going into human restaurants usually doesn't go over so well for some reason.

A few minutes later the waitress came back out and gestured for them to follow. She led them to one of those two person booths right next to the walls. They sat down and got as comfortable as they could get in wooden chairs. "Okay, I'll leave you two a few minutes to look at our men and I'll be back with your water." With another nod from Xander and Amethyst the Roselia left to tend to other tables around the building.

Picking up his menu, Xander looked over what they served. "Let's see... Oooh, an oran berry fruit salad. Don't mind if I do," said Xander, his mouth already watering.

"I want a burger and fries," said Amethyst from across the table.

Xander looked up with a surprised expression. " _You_ eat meat?"

"Well, yeah. I'm an eevee. I'm omnivorous. It's kinda part of my diet," Amethyst explained.

"Oh. Well I guess that explains those sharp teeth you have." And Xander thought Amethyst was ignorant.

Amethyst just nodded in reply, noticing the waitress walking back to their table. "Are you two ready for me to take your orders?" The waitress asked as she placed the two glasses of water she was carrying on the table.

"I want the oran berry fruit salad."

"And I'll have a large cheeseburger and fries."

"Coming right up," said the roselia, walking back over the direction she came. And then an awkward silence took over, the only noises the loud ruckus of the Pokémon around them.

Xander looked at Amethyst. "I'm gonna need to ask you a few questions, Amethyst."

"An interrogation? I swear I didn't do anything!" Amethyst said, putting her forepaws in the air.

"No, it's not about that. It's about the logic of a Pokémon town," Xander corrected.

"Oh. Phew, that's good. Anyway, what's your question?"

Xander leaned in closer to Amethyst. "How the heck did Pokémon form their own town?"

"I don't know. The same way as humans did?" Said Amethyst.

"Do humans know about it?"

"I don't know. Why don't you ask them?"

"I have just one more question. When did this all start?"

Amethyst thought back to what her mother told her the first time she came to a Pokémon town. "Well..."

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Once upon a time...

A lone smeargle was walking through an empty plains one day in the fall. "You know what...I want to make a town just for Pokémon," the smeargle suddenly decided. He looked behind him and called to his buddy. "Yo, Amphy! Wanna help me build a town?"

The ampharos, who was only feet away, gave him a thumbs up...somehow. "Great. We'll build this city right here, and we'll call it "Poképan".

The unnamed ampharos nodded in agreement and they both got to work on their amazing city.

–––––––––––––––––––––

"And that's how this all started," said Amethyst, lifting up her burger, which had arrived minutes ago, and taking a large bite out of it.

Xander just looked bemused. "Wait...can you explain that again?"


	10. 8 - The Joy of Advanced Civilization

A/N

Welcome to Chapter 8.

Some of you may have noticed some changes to the story, namely the cover. This was made by my anonymous friend. Props to him.

Sorry for the wait. I've been working on another project: _Vulpix's Lunch Break._ If you want to read something strange, go there.

Anyway, it's a little rough around the edges, but...enjoy.

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" _Buuurrrrppp!"_

Believe it or not, that wasn't from Xander eating his beloved oran berries. It was actually from Amethyst and her gigantic deluxe cheeseburger.

Amethyst blushed. "Excuse me."

Xander wasn't listening, however. He was still trying to process how Pokémon towns happened. "Wait, so let me get this straight. Some guy went up to his buddy and said: "Let's build a town?" Seriously. That can't possibly be how this happened."

"Well, it was. Now hurry up with your salad," demanded Amethyst.

"Since when did you become so needy, Amethyst?" Questioned Xander sarcastically.

"I'm not needy, we just have more adventuring to do," Amethyst said, acting as if it was the most obvious thing in the world. So Xander continued eating in silence, only more slowly. This, of course, annoyed Amethyst immensely. "Just hurry up!" Amethyst demanded, slamming her hooves on the table.

"What is your problem?!" Yelled Xander, causing everyone in the restaurant to look in their direction.

" _I'm_ not the one with the problem. You are!"

Xander stood up. "Is that an insult?!"

"Yes it is. What are you gonna do about it?"

"You...you...AHHHHH!"

"AHHHHHH!"

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"Well...that escalated quickly."

"Heh...sorry," Amethyst apologized, smiling sheepishly and putting an ice pack over the bump on her forehead. "Eating meat gets me all riled up. Probably some natural instinct or something..." Said Amethyst, suddenly getting pensive.

"Eh, it's okay. I've been fights a lot worse than that," Said Xander slightly nasally, as he had paper towels in his nose to stop the bleeding.

The two of them were currently sitting in a nurse's office, awaiting the return of the nurse. Despite the fact that every other building, save the restaurant, is very old fashioned, the office was actually very modern. Well, in terms of the technology Pokemon actually have, at least.

"Shouldn't you be, like, freaking out right now?" Amethyst asked, raising an eyebrow at the mudkip.

"Why would I be freaking out?"

"Well, at the Pokémon Center—"

"I'm going to stop you right there," said Xander. "My only fear is of humans handling messing with my body. And even then I wouldn't call it a fear; it's more like a strong disliking," Xander corrected himself. "But this is run by Pokémon, and I trust Pokémon more than people."

Amethyst stared at him with a blank look donned on her face. "...I don't get it."

"Of course you don't..."

Meanwhile, the nurse, a gardevoir, finally returned...with a bill in her telekinesis magic floaty thing. "You both are free to go. The total bill for your visit is exactly 28 doubloons." Xander facepalmed...facelegged?

"Really? Doubloons are your currency?"

The two Pokémon in front of him just gave him an odd look. Amethyst just shook it off as Xander's usual odd behavior. Ironic, right? She dug into her bags and pulled out another, smaller bag filled with coins, taking a few out and handing them to the nurse.

"Thank you and enjoy the rest of your day."

The adventurous twosome walked out of the nurse's office. That was it. The town didn't actually have any established hospital. Just a really small nurse's office.

Stepping out of the small structure, Xander had to ask the question that has been bugging him for the past thirty seconds. "So, how exactly do _doubloons_ work?"

"Well one doubloon could probably buy you an apple," Amethyst answered.

"So that short visit to the nurse was the price of twenty-eight apples?" Asked Xander, dumbfounded. "That's crazy."

"It's how the town develops. As you can see, it doesn't have very much money," she said, gesturing towards the old rundown buildings. "That's probably why there's only, like, two buildings that look recent."

Xander shrugged. "Makes sense, I guess. But...why _doubloons_ out of everything?"

"You were in the moustache and sombrero store with me. Why didn't you ask this stuff then?"

"I was too busy getting humiliated by the fact that a was wearing said sombreros and moustaches," Xander logically replied.

Amethyst just rolled her eyes in reply, taking her map out of her bag. "Let's see here...if we want to get to Barren we have to go that way!" Exclaimed Amethyst, pointing west.

"Good. Maybe we can get to modern civilization. I'm tired of the old west."

"I thought you used to live in the wild. Why do you want technology so badly? Shouldn't you be used to it or something?" Amethyst queried.

"Well...yes, but when I come into a town I'm not used to having...this. It just feels unnatural to me," explained Xander.

"That's...dumb. But...eh, I guess I can understand. This town _is_ a little behind, even for Pokémon technology. I'm sure Barren will be a little more modern."

Xander nodded in agreement. Barren was the capital after all. It only makes sense that it would be a little more technologically advanced, especially considering the two modern buildings in sombrero-moustache land. ...Right?

So, without further ado, the two Pokémon set off to Barren, the capital of the Bandit's land, and probably the place they stored their fortune.

When they got so far out of town that they couldn't see stuck-in-the-eighteen-hundreds-land, Xander immediately pulled off his sombrero and his moustache.

Amethyst just looked at him. "I...I don't understand."

"What?" Asked Xander, fanning himself with his sombrero.

"I don't understand why you would take these off. These are awesome! Just look at how amazing I look." Amethyst posed, obviously trying to show off her attire.

"Yeah... You look...interesting," said Xander. It was a smart move, as he did not want to get into an argument with another female. He shivered at the memories; it was partially the reason he usually adventured alone.

"Thank you, Xander. It's nice to know your not a _complete_ jerk anymore," said Amethyst, satisfied with her progress in rehabilitating him.

"Not a complete jerk?" Said Xander as more of a statement than a question. "Great, now I'm only kind of a jerk."

"Yep, you're making good progress. By next month, I'll bet you'll be holding doors open for other Pokémon," Amethyst said hopefully, even though it was probably a long shot.

"Hey I'm not that bad!" Complained Xander. "Sometimes...I...um... Once I held the door open for somebody else!" Xander exclaimed, throwing his leg in the air triumphantly, only to trip on a rock with his other foreleg and fall on his face. This, in turn, caused Amethyst to laugh hysterically.

"That...that was great!" Exclaimed Amethyst in between laughs.

Xander groaned in annoyance. He pulled himself up, acting like nothing happened; a feeble attempt at nursing his pride. This only caused Amethyst to laugh harder. She fell onto the ground, rolling on the ground laughing.

"I...I can't breathe," Amethyst spit out in between more fits of laughter. Instead of retorting or lashing out at Amethyst like Xander would normally do, he just continued on his way to Barren, leaving Amethyst to roll on the ground in her laughter. It was a while before Amethyst noticed, though. By the time she realized Xander had disappeared, he was already a few yards away from her.

"W-wait, Xander!" Amethyst yelled, scurrying in Xander's direction.

–––––––––––––––––––––

"It looks like we're going to have to set up camp soon, Amethyst," said Xander, looking at the setting sun.

Amethyst nodded. "Good thing I brought some blankets in my trusty bags," Amethyst said, gesturing toward her bags. "I heard it gets pretty cold in the desert. Plus these blankets are extremely soft."

Xander looked at the landscape around. "Hey, do you think you could help me grab some of these dry twigs so we can build a fire. If it's as cold as you said, we're going to need it."

Amethyst nodded and set off to grab the sticks, Xander travelling in the opposite direction. When they both returned, Xander used his amazing survival skills to start the fire while Amethyst laid two blankets down on the ground.

By the time they were done, they were laying down under warm blankets next to a crackling fire. Amethyst stared in awe at the setting sun in the sky, its array of oranges and reds casting a beautiful color onto the desert's ground.

"I've never seen a sunset like this..." said Amethyst, "it's really hilly in the part of the forest we live in. There we can't see the entire thing. But here..."

Xander fell asleep about halfway through that speech. It wasn't because it was boring. No, it was because it was really cheesy. But, despite this fact, Amethyst kept talking. Well, she kept talking until Xander started snoring loudly.

Amethyst rolled her eyes, but smiled at Xander's antics. She laid her head down on the ground and closed her eyes, quickly slipping into unconsciousness.

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"XANDER!"

"AHHH!"

Amethyst had, again, woken Xander up by screaming at him, and, again, Xander was very annoyed.

"Wake up!"

"Gah! Quit it, Amethyst! Do you really have to wake me up like that every time?!" Yelled Xander.

"Hey," said Amethyst defensively, "it's the fastest way to get you up. And it's pretty funny."

"That's not funny, it's completely rude!"

Amethyst rolled her eyes at him and went over to her bags, which were strategically placed away from the dying fire. Xander walked next to her, right as she pulled out her fantastic map. "Hmm, we're about three quarters of the way to Barren, so we should only have to walk, say, another three or four hours," Amethyst said cheerfully.

"Good, then maybe we can get a hotel room. It _was_ freezing last night." To that, Amethyst had to agree. Despite the fact that she had a fur coat, a blanket covering her, and a fire near her, she was still a little cold. There was no telling how it must have been for Xander with his...skin?

So they set off in silence, if only to lower Xander's anger meter to zero. _Wow...a meter to gauge Xander's anger. That would be amazing,_ thought Amethyst.

When the fantastical two were about two hours away from Barren, they heard a strange noise. The best way to describe it be...a rattling noise.

"What is that noise, Amethyst?" Demanded Xander.

"I think I've heard it before. It comes from a Pokémon...but which one?" Amethyst became pensive as she searched her memory for the Pokémon, sitting down and putting her paw to her chin. "I'm pretty sure it comes from a poison type Pokémon..."

A snake-like Pokémon suddenly made itself known as it crawled out of a group of dry bushes. Its tail shook violently, eliciting the awful rattling noise the duo had been hearing. "Amethyst..." Xander said cautiously, "ekans..."

Amethyst stomped her paw on the ground. "Ekans! That's what the Pokémon was!"

"Sssso," the ekans said, drawing Amethyst's attention as well as a sharp gasp from the eevee, "you think you can come into _my_ territory and make it out alive? We'll ssssee about that. Twenty-three and Seventy-two!" Two smaller ekans crawled out of the bush, following their leader. The leader of the ekans had oh-so-kindly numbered his guards. This way he didn't have to remember their names.

The leader ekans looked at his two guards. "Let's show them what happens when you wander into our land, shall we?" The two ekans grunted an affirmative.

"Wait!" Amethyst cut in. "There is obviously an easier, more peaceful way to resolve this. If you'll just let me explain—"

"Attack!"

 _Oh crap,_ Xander thought, not doing anything to prepare himself in any way for the oncoming onslaught of snakes. The ekans rapidly approached, hissing and screeching at the mudkip and the eevee. Xander shrugged at Amethyst, who was looking back at him with a bemused expression. Right when the ekans were about to strike, Xander used water gun. The snakes got launched back by the water, landing in a pile. Xander approached the pile and...continually used water gun, exerting as much pressure as he could into that one attack. Evidently, that was a lot of pressure.

"AHHH! IT BURNS! We give up! You can go through! Uncle!" Xander stopped attacking, now seeing the pile of ekans all scrambling to regain their breath.

"Okay. Let's go Amethyst!"

Amethyst frowned at the mudkip, but followed him anyway. "Don't you think that was a little harsh, Xander?"

Xander just stared at her with a dumbfounded expression. "They were going to kill us! What did you want me to do, treat them to lunch?!"

"Well...no, but you didn't have to do that. They could've died and you wouldn't have been any better than them," Amethyst logically explained.

Xander facepalmed at Amethyst's logic. "Let's just...get to Barren."

–––––––––––––––––––––

 _ **Two Hours Later...**_

"We finally made it to Barren!" Amethyst exclaimed joyfully.

"Yes! Now we can get a hotel!" Said Xander, scrambling to the nearest place that said 'inn'. Unfortunately for him, he was stopped by a furry eevee biting down on his tail. "Ow!" Xander exclaimed, falling face first on the ground. Again.

Amethyst shook her head at him. "Not so fast, Xander. We have some stuff we need to do first. And you need to wear your disguise," Amethyst said, putting the sombrero on his head and the mustache on his nose.

"Is it more important than finding a place to sleep so we don't freeze to death?" Questioned Xander, correcting the mustache so it went under his nose instead of on it.

"...Yes," said Amethyst. "We need to find where they keep their treasure. You know, so we can steal it." That drew looks from some surrounding Pokémon, causing Xander to facepalm. "Next we need to go sightseeing, but I suppose we could do that tomorrow. We'd have more time, anyways."

"Thank you!" Exclaimed Xander, his relief of not having to do anything but find the vault evident.

"Oh! We should come up with false identities! That way no one will know who we really are," explained Amethyst.

"I don't think we need to fake our identities in a town we're probably never coming back to," Xander stated.

Amethyst scoffed at that. "Well better safe than sorry. My name will be..." Amethyst stroked her mustache in thought, "Cowgirl Grace!" Announced Amethyst, obviously proud with what she came up with. "And you will be...Cowboy Gus!"

"...Fine."

"That's the spirit," said Amethyst, patting Xander on the back. "Now let's go. That vault should be around here somewhere..."

Xander sighed. _When did this become my life..._

–––––––––––––––––––––

"Okay...Amethyst. I am absolutely certain...that that is not the vault." The amazing pair were looking at a large, round iron vault door. It was placed in plain sight in the middle of the city. It also had a sign next to it that said: "This is Definitely not the City's Money Vault."

"They're obviously trying to mislead us," Xander continued.

"Nonsense. Hey, what's that building over there?" Amethyst pointed behind Xander. Above every other building, there was a large white building, presented in a very ostentatious way. There was also a sign next to it, placed on a metal pole, similar to one you'd see by a restaurant. That sign, easily readable from where they were standing, said: "The Incredibly Inconspicuous Lair of the Bandits."

"Oh you have got to be kidding me..." Xander said, once again facepalming.

"Well, now we know where that is." Amethyst looked at the sun, which just barely appeared over the buildings tops. "And it looks like it's getting late. How about that hotel room, huh, Xander?"

"Yes. Please. I need somewhere to sit and process this," said Xander, rubbing his temples.

"Well lucky for you, there's a hotel right there!" Amethyst pointed at probably the most high quality, fancy hotel in Barren.

"Uh, Amethyst. Are you sure you have that much money?" Xander inquired.

"Of course I do. I've never been to a Pokémon city without my parents before and they gave me a lot of money just in case I did come to one. And, since this is my first time, I have a lot of money!" Amethyst explained.

"...Okay then!" Exclaimed Xander, rubbing his legs together greedily. "Let's go!"

–––––––––––––––––––––

The hotel itself was very nice. It had granite floors in the lobby and actually had green plants next to leather couches. The ceiling went up about thirty feet and at the top a chandelier loomed above them. An...electric one?

"Hello. I'd like to order a room to stay the night in," said Amethyst to the clerk at the hotel, a mawile.

"Okay, that would be two hundred doubloons." Amethyst handed her the money. The clerk gladly accepted it, handing a key back to her. "You will be in room 221, which is on the second floor. Enjoy your stay," said the mawile, nodding at them. Amethyst said a quick thank you and walked to a staircase that was about twenty feet in front of the door at the entrance to a hallway lined with rooms, Xander close behind.

The pair walked up the stairs, eventually reaching the top and immediately seeing room 202 in front of them. "Let's see...203, 204, 205," Amethyst counted. They eventually reached their room, Amethyst placing the key inside the lock and turning it. The door opened, inviting them into their home for the night. The room had two beds sitting on a peach colored carpet. A bathroom was left of the door, as well as...light switches?

"How the heck do Pokémon generate electricity?" Xander finally asked.

The owners of the buildings pay Pokémon to run a really big treadmill, probably in the basement," Amethyst explained.

"Don't they get breaks?" Xander questioned.

"Of course. I don't know exactly how the system works, though. You'd have to ask someone else," said Amethyst.

"Well...it works for me. At least it's not like that other town. Its name shall never be spoken by me ever again..." Xander said, shivering at the memories of the awful, horrid, not technologically advanced old west town. I mean people in Barren still wore sombreros and mustaches, but it's better than Wano.

Xander jumped onto a bed, gradually sinking into its softness. "Ahhh... I could fall asleep right now..." Said Xander, closing his eyes.

"Then fall asleep. We don't have anything else to do today anyway," said Amethyst. But it was already too late; Xander had fallen asleep moments before she started talking. Xander let out a large snore. Amethyst rolled her eyes. "Again, Xander?" She sighed. _Might as well go to sleep too,_ thought Amethyst. _The longer I sleep the more awake I'll be for tomorrow._ With that thought in mind, she climbed onto the bed opposite Xander's and climbed under the covers. Closing her eyes, she gave in to sleep, dreaming of the wealth she'll have when she finally steals all of that treasure. _What an adventure..._


	11. The Joy of Treasure and Possible Death

"Amethyst..."

"Huh?' Amethyst looked up and saw...nothing. Everything was black. The ground had a sort of glassy feel as she pulled herself off of the...ground? "Am I dreaming?"

"No, this is real life," a voice spoke sarcastically, coming from seemingly nowhere. "You just happen to be floating on nothing, surrounded by nothing, and...did I mention that there is nothing?"

"You know, you should meet my friend Xander. I think you two would really hit it off—"

"SILENCE!" The voice demanded. A zipper appeared on Amethyst's muzzle, forcing her mouth shut.

Amethyst's eyes widened as an outline of the form of a Pokémon appeared in front of Amethyst, it's mouth and body moving with every word it spoke. "Now that you're listening... I, Arceus, leader of the bandits—"

"Mmmmmm!" Amethyst mumbled. Blinking, Amethyst unzipped her mouth, the zipper disappearing in a poof of smoke. "What?!"

"I said SILENCE! Now, as I was saying, I, the leader of the bandits, know your plans to steal my treasure, which I have cleverly hidden inside of Barren," the outline 'Arceus' continued.

"Cleverly hidden?" Amethyst actually laughed at that. "It's in plain sight. We found it within thirty minutes of us being in Barren," Amethyst revealed.

"Umm..." The form in front of Amethyst frantically tried thinking of a viable denial to that statement. "That...that wasn't it! That was...my bathroom," "Arceus" logically said.

"Really? Huh, that's a weird place for a bathroom," said Amethyst. "Wait, did you say you were the leader of the bandits?"

"Arceus" sighed and facepalmed. "Geez this one is slow..." He murmured. "Anyways, don't even try to steal my treasure. I am pretty much a god; you will never be able to get past me." Arceus said, finally revealing his true form. "Bow to me, for you are witnessing something very few get to see," he said, standing straight and puffing his chest out.

"You're a god? Then how come I've never heard of you? ...Oh well. Oh, that must be how you know our plans! ...Seems like cheating if you ask me; you knowing everything about what we're going to do and all..." Amethyst said.

"Cheating?! Wait, did you just ignore my will? You've never heard of me? I'm only the one who _made_ you. ...This is...bemusing... Tell me, what gives you such courage to speak to me like this?" Arceus questioned.

"I don't know, maybe Xander's rubbing off on me or something."

"...I wish to speak to this Xander. One who possesses such boldness must be fit to worship me," Arceus concluded.

"Hey, why do you talk like that?" Asked Amethyst, abandoning the subject of Xander worshipping him completely.

Arceus stared at her for a few seconds before asking: "How do I speak?"

"It's so old fashioned," said Amethyst. "Try speaking like me," Amethyst requested, and Arceus complied.

Arceus cleared his throat. "...Yo, how's it hanging home-slice? That's, like, so awesome I'm gonna die. Hrrrmmm...that is...sexy. Dawg."

Amethyst facepalmed. "That's not how it works, Arceus. You have to use words Pokémon still use today."

...

"...Be gone, Amethyst! You shall now awaken!" Amethyst seemed to pop out of existence, leaving behind no evidence that she was ever there.

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"...Xander!"

Xander bolted up. "H-huh?"

"Guess what happened last night, Xander," Amethyst said enthusiastically.

Xander rubbed his eyes with his legs. "I-I don't know..." Xander yawned, his eyes half closed.

"I met a god in my _mind_! He said his name was...Arceus I think? He was very friendly, but kind of hot-headed if you ask me," said Amethyst.

"Ar..." Xander yawned, "Arceus? Isn't that the Pokémon from that child's fable?" Xander asked, finally getting up.

"I don't know. I've never heard of him, but he said he was the leader of the bandits," said Amethyst

"What!"

"Is that bad?"

"Yes!" Xander bellowed. "In the fable he was the creator of Pokémon; he was an all powerful being!"

"Well he _did_ say he made me, but I thought he was crazy and thought he was my mom or something," said Amethyst.

Xander decided to ignore that comment and get straight to the point. "We can't do this, Amethyst! We'll be killed!"

"Awwww, but robbing the bandits was our entire reason for coming here," Amethyst whined, obviously not seeing the big picture.

"No, Amethyst. We'll _die._ We won't _exist_ anymore."

"I know what death is, Xander," Amethyst said. "I just don't want our journey to be utterly useless. We need an an adventure, and robbing the bandits' treasury is the biggest adventure we can have here." Amethyst sighed and dropped her head. "I never really wanted the money. It was just a bonus. I wanted to explore; have a little fun..."

Xander sighed as well, his resolve crumbling under the eevee's depression. Alright...maybe we can find something else to do? I hear there are a few attractions. Maybe we can go to one of those?" Xander suggested.

Amethyst made the most adorable puppy eyes Xander had ever seen. This instantly broke any objections Xander had previously possessed. "Okay, but..." Xander sighed, "we're going to have to be prepared."

Amethyst nodded in agreement. "You're right...I'll get the spy gear."

"What does this "spy gear" consist of?" Xander asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Grappling hook, those suction cups you stick on your legs and a mirror to deflect laser beam," Amethyst explained casually.

"...Uh-huh... Good luck with that. Meanwhile, I'll get my own bags to carry some of that gold in. Can I borrow some money?" Asked Xander.

Amethyst rolled her eyes. "Okay, but you're only getting a hundred doubloons. Yeah, that should be enough to buy a fairly decent bag. Or at the very least enough to buy a bag that can carry coins easily." Amethyst handed Xander a bag of coins, who grabbed them in his mouth and nodded his appreciation.

"We'll meet up next to the vault when we're done," said Amethyst.

Xander nodded again and with that Xander and Amethyst went their own ways. Of course neither Xander nor Amethyst knew where anything was in this town... That should be fun for them.

Xander, who was just wandering to the place he saw the most shops the day before, was getting frustrated at his lack of understanding of the city. "Don't they have maps or something..." He mumbled.

"Get your maps here!"

Xander brightened considerably, which was rare for him, and looked in the direction of the voice. There, sitting on a red carpet on the dusty ground, was a mienfoo selling Barren maps. Xander approached the Pokémon, still in his unusually cheerful mood. "I'd like to purchase a map."

"That's fifty doubloons."

Xander just stared at the salesman, his bright mood dropping back to his normal, grumpy mood. "Fifty doubloons. That's got to be overpriced!" Xander exclaimed, drawing the attention of multiple Pokémon.

"Hey, it's my business. If you're not going to buy anything, get out of here," the mienfoo demanded.

Xander groaned angrily and walked away, his eyes never leaving the mienfoo's. The crowd dispersed and the mienfoo looked away, instead turning his attention to another customer. Xander waited a few seconds...and ran up and grabbed a map from his shop. If he was going to steal the bandits' treasure, he might as well get used to thievery, right?

"Stop! Police!" He heard the shop owner calling from behind him. Xander grinned to himself. He made it.

A group of Pokémon dressed in outfits that screamed "I have authority" appeared in front of Xander, stopping the mudkip in his tracks. _How the heck did they even get there so fast!_ Thought Xander, turning around, only to be stopped by another group of those Pokémon in outfits.

"...Crap..."

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Amethyst was humming as she walked down the streets. She hadn't found any store relating to spying for some odd reason. "Where could that store be? What kind of city doesn't have a store that sells spy gear!"

"I couldn't help but overhear that you want spy gear, right?"

Amethyst turned to the gabite behind her that asked. "Why, yes. I am looking for spy gear."

"Well I've got just what you need at my shop: "Willy's emporium of...er, spy stuff,"" said the gabite apparently named Willy.

Amethyst just stared at him for a few seconds. "...That...that's great! I've been looking for this stuff for, like, an hour and—"

"Yeah, yeah, I get it. You've been looking for some stuff," the gabite said.

"Exactly!"

"Well, if you'll just follow me I'll take you to my shop," said Willy. Amethyst nodded and followed Willy down an alley. A _dark_ alley. Amethyst wasn't perturbed in the slightest.

"Well, this is my shop!" His "shop" was pretty much the black market on a rug. Settled in one of the corners in the dark alley, Willy's shop held other Pokémon's personal belongings, the most common one being pictures framed in gold, what looked like weapons of some sort, and a suspicious looking red stick that said "DYNAMITE", whatever that is, on it. Of course there was more than that, but it would take way too long to explain it here.

"Pick an item, any item! As long as you pay for it, which item matters not!" Willy said, but Amethyst was too distracted to hear anything he was saying.

"I'll take this!" Exclaimed Amethyst, holding up a black stick with a handle and a trigger. "Oh, and this!" This time she grabbed one of those "dynamite" sticks, despite the fact that she didn't have a cue as to what they were or what they did. "And...what exactly is this?" She grabbed a small rectangular object with what looked to be a gear of some sort on the top and...a button next to it? She pressed it and sparks flew out of it.

"Uh...why don't you buy it and find out?" The gabite suggested.

"Good idea! I'll take these three."

"All excellent choices. I'll charge you six-hundred doubloons for all of them."

Amethyst considered that. "I don't know...seems a bit pricey."

"Just buy it," Willy deadpanned.

"...You've convinced me," Amethyst said, handing him a bag of money.

"It's been a pleasure doing business with you—"

"T-this is the police!" A squad of nosepasses stood at the front of the alley in a clearly practiced order. The officer next to the one speaking slapped his shoulder, prompting him to quit stuttering. He was pretty young, probably a new recruit. "P-put your...whatever you have up!" The police yelled extremely confidently. The one standing next to him facepalmed.

Amethyst's paws went straight into the air, but not before she put her items in her bag. Willy, on the other hand, was running like a madman down the alley. Six officers ran up to Amethyst, paw...cuffing her? Her front legs were secured, but not her back ones, as she had to have some mobility, even if all she could do was drag herself with her back paws.

"You are under arrest," a guard that wasn't the probably-new-recruit said. "Stand down and you won't be harmed." That statement just proved about how smart the police were. She couldn't use her front legs, meaning it was almost physically impossible for her to stage any sort of uprising against them.

"Grab her bags," one of the officers commanded another officer, who nodded and took her bags.

Amethyst, who was struggling against the iron restraints on her paws, was lifted to a cart outside the alley...with Xander on it. A policeman was squinting his eyes at the mudkip, daring him to make a move against him. Xander simply stared back, obviously creeped out. He would back away, but he was locked to the cart. Stupid police.

"Xander? What are you doing here?" Xander looked up in surprise at Amethyst.

"Oh, I tried stealing a city map. You?" Xander asked.

"I have no idea."

Xander paused, then nodded. "Good enough for me."

"Hey," the creepy guard yelled, "no interacting with other prisoners!"

"We're buddies though!" Amethyst retorted.

"I don't care if you two are soulmates," snapped the guard, "talking with each other while in _my_ cart is strictly forbidden!"

Amethyst leaned toward Xander. "Well somebody's no fun."

Xander nodded in agreement. "I'm no fun either, yet still I agree. That should tell you something."

"Shut up!" The guard screamed, immediately quieting the mudkip.

Amethyst looked back and forth between Xander and the nosepass, eventually settling her gaze on the latter. "Hey! Nobody speaks to my friend like that!"

"Shut up!" Amethyst was also quieted.

One of the police officers, followed by about ten more, came out of the alley and saluted to the supposed leader of the group. "All clear. We have secured all of the items and now await further instruction."

The...probably sheriff nodded his approval. "Good. We will bring them to the department to decide what is done with them. What of the other accomplice?"

"Unfortunately he's escaped."

"...No matter. Go get the stuff and put it on the cart," the sheriff ordered. The nosepass dropped his salute and nodded. He walked back into the alley and returned with a few other nosepasses with...grocery bags of items. Seriously?

A nosepass nodded to the sheriff. "That's all of it." The sheriff nodded in return.

"Then let's head back. I'm getting tired of this heat," said the sheriff, wiping his brow, even though he was a rock and couldn't sweat.

–––––––––––––––––––––

"Well this sucks," said Xander. The pair was locked in a cliche looking western jail. The same guard from the cart was keeping watch of the prison, sitting at a table to the left of their cell. Amethyst's bags were sitting atop its wooden surface. The only thing that was off, besides the obvious cliche element, was the fact that he wasn't watching. He was sleeping. His keys were suspiciously hanging from his pockets, easily within their reach.

As for the jail cell, it was just as cliche as the outside. There was an extremely uncomfortable looking wooden bunk bed in the corner, and...that was pretty much the only defining feature of the room.

Amethyst shook her head sadly. "We've got to get out of here somehow... But how?"

Xander deadpanned. "Seriously? The solution is obvious."

"Yeah, but we don't have a file, and even if we did it would probably be too loud..." Said Amethyst.

Xander facepalmed. "No! We can grab the keys!"

"We could, but that's too mainstream for me," Amethyst logically reasoned.

Xander couldn't answer that kind of stupidity, so he just went ahead with his plan. He reached through the iron bars and easily snatched the keys away from the guard. He then went to the door and...realized you could only use the key from the outside. "Error, why couldn't you be an espeon..."

"Well _sorry_ —"

"I think I've got it!" Said Xander, reaching his leg through the bars in an attempt to insert the key into the keyhole. "Yes, yes..." An audible _click_ sounded throughout the jail. The guard stirred in his sleep but didn't awake.

The door creaked open and Xander grinned. "Yes! Come on, Amethyst!"

Amethyst, who had just gotten settled on the bottom bunk of the bed, looked up in surprise. "Huh? Already? I was just gonna take a nap!" Amethyst whined.

"Amethyst!"

"Okay!" Amethyst relented, finally getting up from her spot on the bed.

Xander slowly inched his way out of the cell, quickly followed by Amethyst. Apparently the guard could sleep through anything, because after Amethyst tripped over her paws and fell on her face, just like she would, the guard was still sound asleep on his desk.

Amethyst rubbed her muzzle. "Ow..."

"Shhh!"

"Okay! The guard was still sleeping.

Amethyst stayed a little behind to snatch her bags off of the guard's desk, Xander already at the doorway. "Come on, Amethyst!'

"I'm coming!" She hissed.

Amethyst ran to catch up with Xander. The pair carefully opened the door, trying to make as little noise as possible before tiptoeing out. "Freedom!" Amethyst exclaimed.

"Shhh! We're barely outside of the building." The door was still wide open, and inside they could see the guard beginning to rouse from his slumber.

" _Now_ he wakes up!" Amethyst complained. "I feel like you just flipped through some pages and picked most cliche thing in the book."

"I did, but that's besides the point. We Need to get out of here. Fast." Xander turned and sprinted away from the jail. Amethyst blinked and, realizing that Xander had left, ran after him.

–––––––––––––––––––––

"We...we made it," Xander panted, ducked behind a vacant market stand.

"Yeah," said Amethyst. "This is what happens when you do completely expected things..." Apparently the entire police force was standing outside the jailhouse place. They saw the duo almost immediately, and...you see where this is going.

"Hey, you know what they say," argued Xander, " _the expected is unexpected_."

Amethyst raised an eyebrow. "I thought it was _expect the unexpected_ —"

"Well you thought wrong," Xander cut in. Xander straightened himself and rose out of cover, his eyes scanning for any sign of the police that were searching for them. "I think we're clear, Amethyst."

"Are you sure?" Amethyst questioned. "Because if there's one thing I've learned from staying in cities, it's some Pokémon can blend in with a crowd."

"Yes I'm sure. I'm also pretty sure that I'd be able to pick a Pokémon in a big blue outfit out of a crowd," Xander reassured.

Amethyst slowly poked her head over the stand's counter. "Xander, there's one right there!"

Xander instantly pulled his head back and returned to his fetal position in the corner of the stand. This elicited hysterical laughter from the eevee above him. "Ha! That...that was hilarious..." Amethyst choked out in between laughter. Xander responded by walking away from Amethyst. "H-hey! Wait up!"

"I think it would be best if we just left, Amethyst."said Xander once the eevee caught up.

"What? No! We have to finish what we came here for, or else that defeats the purpose of ever coming to Barren!" Amethyst reasoned.

Xander sighed at that. "The question is what would you rather do? Stay in prison for their rest of your life or go home get on with our lives?"

Amethyst adorned a distant look. "What is life, but for taking risks..."

Xander blinked in surprise. "Wow... That...that was the most inquisitive thing I've ever heard you say..."

"..."

"...Let's go back to the hotel. The police are probably swarming it and it would be nice to know if we don't have a place to stay or not so we can start making plans," said Xander.

"Oooh, if we have to sleep outside I call the dumpster!" Amethyst exclaimed.

Xander agreed to let her sleep in the trash and they began their journey to the hotel. Arriving, the pair saw that a couple of policemen were indeed at the hotel. Xander sighed and turned back. "Well, I guess we are sleeping outside." Xander began walking back the way they came, but was stopped by Amethyst.

"Wait, Xander. I have an idea." Amethyst took off her sombrero and her mustache. "They'll never recognize us," Amethyst deduced.

"Amethyst, that's ridiculous. They may not be the brightest Pokémon, but I'm pretty sure they're not _that_ stupid," Xander reasoned.

Amethyst decided to just ignore Xander and continue with her extremely logical and foolproof plan. "Amethyst—don't," but it was too late. Amethyst walked out—in plain sight—and went straight for the front doors; that's where the police were standing.

"Good evening, officers," Amethyst greeted, nodding at them. They nodded back and allowed her entrance. Xander just stared back unbelievingly. Shaking himself out of his stupor, Xander boldened himself and walked into the open. His eyes locked with the police's...

...

The two policemen looked at each other, then back to Xander. "Get the criminal!" The police jumped at Xander, who panicked and took his accessories off. They landed in a heap on the ground. "H-hey, where'd he go?" One of the officers questioned, not seeing the blue axolotl with the sombrero and the mustache. All they could see was a blue axolotl _without_ those. They both looked down at the Pokémon on the ground under them. "Sir, did you happen to see that criminal we were after?"

Xander blinked. "Uhhh...no?"

The police nodded at each other. "We're sorry for disturbing you, sir." The officers left, leaving Xander on the ground. Shakily standing up, Xander walked to the hotel tiredly.

Amethyst had a smug grin on her face as Xander passed her standing at the front door. "Looks like you were wrong; my plan did work," Amethyst stated smugly.

"...Shut up..."

–––––––––––––––––––––

"Well, now that we're here...how do we get in?" Amethyst queried as they stood at the vault's door.

The night before they had slept in the hotel and, when they got up, they didn't bother to put their amazing attire on. They then went over to the obvious treasury place and...here they are now.

*I don't know, maybe it has something to do with that keypad right in front of you!" Said Xander sarcastically.

Amethyst finally looked straight ahead. "Oh!" Amethyst exclaimed, looking back to Xander. "Do you, uh, happen to know the password." Xander just rolled his eyes and shook his head. "You don't have to be so mean about it..." Amethyst looked at the keypad and squinted her eyes in concentration. "1-2-3-4-5. That should do it."

"There's no way that's going to work—" Xander was s

cut off by a loud beep and a bright green light. "You've got to be kidding me..."

The vault door trembled, shaking the ground as it lurched open. If Amethyst were wearing her mustache it would have fallen off of her face. Multiple Pokémon stopped and looked at the now ajar treasury. Amethyst shrugged at Xander, who was currently in the process of an epic facepalm, and walked into the vault.

Hills of gold and jewels greeted Amethyst as she entered, lighting up the surrounding walls with a yellowish tint. "Wow," Xander said, finally walking in, along with a few other Pokémon that saw the treasure and thought: "free money!", "that is a lot of treasure. Now let's get some and get out of here."

"Mmkay," said Amethyst, as she went to shovel gold into her bags. And then she realized how heavy gold was. "Hey, Xander, you want to help?"

"Well I would, but I didn't exactly have enough time to get some bags to carry them in."

"Well you could still help carry them or something," said Amethyst. Xander just gave her an "are you kidding me" look.

"I don't want to—"

"It looks like some Pokémon are going to die tonight," said a new voice from the entrance. There, standing right outside the vault, was arceus. "I warned you, but you didn't listen."

Xander snorted. "Yeah, because you're from some child's tale."

"QUIET, FOOL!" Arceus shouted.

The Pokémon behind Xander and Amethyst were shaking horribly. Amethyst was absentmindedly pulling more gold into her bags.

"Now, where was I before I was so rudel interrupted? Oh yes. YOU'RE ALL GOING TO DIE!"

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A/N

I've done it! I have released the next chapter! This is officially the longest chapter I have ever written in one document. Yay. Yeah, so I hope you enjoyed this chapter for whatever reason. Review please; it's what gives me motivation. Favorite or follow or whatever you do. Or don't. It doesn't matter, but those things also motivate me.

Goodbye now.


	12. The Joy of Illusions and Free Treasures

"YOU'RE ALL GOING TO DIE!"

"That guy's a jerk," Amethyst whispered into Xander's ear, obviously not understanding the gravity of the situation.

"What did you just say?" Arceus questioned, his gaze firmly fixed on Amethyst.

"She called you a jerk!" Xander yelled. He could've sworn he saw smoke coming out of his ears and his face turning red, but it was probably just his imagination. Yes, Xander has an imagination. Deal with it.

"Why you little… First you break into _my_ vault and now you _dare_ to insult me?" Xander was certain he saw smoke this time, but not only did it come from his ears. No, it also blew out of his nose. Amethyst apparently noticed this too, as she was looking fearfully back at Xander.

"I think you're making him angry, Xander. Well, more angry than he already was. Which was already pretty angry. That makes him... _extremely_ angry, Xander! You must end the madness!" Amethyst pleaded, whilst simultaneously shoving more treasure into her bags.

Xander suddenly got a distant look in his eyes and he began staring out into the distance. "Amethyst...there is only one way, a single option we have, to end this madness. We must devise a plan to defeat the supreme god that's so crazy it just might work." Xander looked to Amethyst. "That's where you come in."

Amethyst gasped "M-me? I don't know, Xander. This may be out of my control! The madness of this situation exceeds the maximum amount of craziness I can retain!" Amethyst exclaimed.

"We must do it, Amethyst. For me. So I can live."

This seemed to give Amethyst the courage to stand against Arceus. "You're right. I will fight with you, Xander."

Xander nodded and looked to all of the other inhabitants of the vault. "Will you join us, unnamed townsfolk?"

The townsfolk looked a little bit uneasy about the situation. Well, they did before someone appeared out of nowhere and screamed, " _YEAH_!"

"Yeah!" The townsfolk screeched in unison.

Xander nodded his thanks to them and turned to Arceus. "You… Can you give us a second?"

"Take all the time that you need."

Xander nodded his than—

"Ha! I was just kidding! You only have _half_ a second! That'll show you!" Arceus laughed hysterically, rolling onto his back and gasping for breath.

"Well, guys," Xander said, turning back to his crew, "I think I can safely say we have well over half a second." His incredibly agreeable crew nodded their agreement.

Xander looked to Amethyst, whom simply nodded and said, "Huddle."

The Pokémon all formed a shoulder-to-shoulder group, creating a circular gaggle of Pokémon. "Here's the plan," said Xander, "I distract the probably fake all supreme god over there by throwing gold and jewels at him while you guys try to figure out what's really going on. That way we can resolve the issue more quickly."

Amethyst donned a skeptical expression. "I don't know...seems kind of...simple."

"Do you have any other ideas, Amethyst?" Xander asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Yes...WE KILL HIM WITH FIRE!" Amethyst screeched.

"And where do you suppose we'll get that fire?"

Amethyst looked at the rest of their group and realized the only fire type in the room was a magmar. "Oh, well then...proceed."

"I'm gonna need your bags for my plan, Amethyst."

"Okay, but this was a gift from my father. If you break it there's no telling what's going to happen to you," Amethyst stated gravely. Xander accepted these conditions somewhat hesitantly and took the bags. And he was right to be hesitant. This is _Amethyst_ we're talking about.

Xander rolled his eyes and nodded. He turned his head to eye the unreal/real god and said, "On the count of three. One… Two… Three!"

Amethyst jumped ahead of Xander and stuck a paw in the air, yelling, "CHARGE!"

"AHHH!" The team rushed forward, led by Amethyst and her archaic war tactics.

Xander the only one approaching the god, whom was still rolling on the ground laughing hysterically, decided that annoyance was the key to a great distraction. "Hey you, fertilizer for brains!" This caught Arceus' attention. "Why aren't you attacking us yet. It's been way over half a second. Did you…" Xander dramatically gasped, "lie…?" Everyone in the room stopped in their tracks and gasped, then resumed their mission.

That accusation shut up Arceus' annoying laugh and replaced with his slightly less annoying angry voice. "No, I was not lying. You shall meet death today."

"THEN KILL ME!"

"AHHH!" Arceus unleashed a hyper beam from his mouth, hitting the ground right next to Xander. The fact that no debris went flying from the strike went flying wasn't lost on Xander. This was when all the pieces fell into place and Xander knew exactly what was going on.

"Is that your best shot?!"

Arceus growled and fired another shot… It landed five feet away, almost like he was deliberately trying to avoid Xander…

"SPONTANEOUS DISTRACTION!" Xander yelled, pointing somewhere behind Arceus. Somehow, Arceus fell for it and looked behind him. This gave Xander enough time to run up and throw Amethyst's bags at the all powerful supreme god...only to have the bag to go straight through him. "Just as I thought…" Xander mumbled.

"WHAT DID YOU THINK?!" Amethyst screeched from across the vault.

"SHUT UP, AMETHYST!"

"OKAY!"

Xander turned his attention back to the "god," squinting his eyes at him, demanding a challenge, to which Arceus simply squinted back in return. Neither side moved for a few seconds...

Then Arceus flickered out of existence. He just...disappeared! Nowhere to be seen! "Hey," said a random Pokémon from behind a large pile of gold. It was a Magby that wasn't of the highest of IQs…or average IQs, but you get the idea. "I found this guy. He was waving his hands in a really weird way so I knocked him out. Plus he was smoking a cigar and I wanted to prevent secondhand smoke. Hello, this is probably a no smoking building! I probably saved a few lives today." He said proudly

"Good work...Magby," congratulated Amethyst, saluting him.

"Thanks, boss," replied the unnamed magby.

"Is that a drowzee?" Asked another unnamed background character, a clueless diglett.

The magby just shrugged and said, "I don't know."

"Hurry," said Xander, "let's grab the money and get out of here." Amethyst promptly agreed and the Pokémon all ran out to freedom, but not forgetting to do the jump in the air pause thing…and failing miserably. They all just fell to the ground, looked at each other, and then all ran in separate directions.

–––––––––––––––––––––

"Well, Amethyst, we did it. We robbed the bandits," said Xander. Despite the fact that he disliked the idea from the beginning, he was filled with a great sense of accomplishment.

"Yeah...we're _rich!"_ Amethyst exclaimed exuberantly.

"What are we even going to do with all that money?" Asked Xander incredulously, gesturing to Amethyst's bags.

"I don't know, brag?" Amethyst replied.

Xander paused, then nodded. "Works for me. After all of that, we've definitely earned our bragging rights."

Amethyst put on her thinking face. "Yeah, but...I just have one question; how did you know he wasn't going to kill us?"

"I didn't, I just figured that if I'm going to die, I'm gonna make it quick and take you all down with me."

"Hmm, okay—wait...hey!"

Xander snickered. "Relax, Amethyst. I was just kidding. Probably."

"What do you mean, probably?!"

Xander was going to respond, but something unexpected happened. They started getting pelted with eggs. By policemen. "Get out of our city!"

"Yeah, you don't belong here!"

"You've caused us a lot of trouble!"

Amethyst got slapped in the face by a donut one of the officers threw. "I have very mixed feeling about this," said Amethyst, looking at the donut that was now laying on the ground.

"Let's get out of here, Amethyst!"

Amethyst stared at the donut on the ground for a few more seconds before following Xander.

And the pair ran off into the sunset, away from the torment of eggs and donuts.

–––––––––––––––––––––

"And we finally accomplished our goal: rob the bandits of their gold. Well, most of it. And by most of it, I mean a very small portion of it," Amethyst explained, her parents staring at her in disbelief and her younger siblings staring at her in wonder. "So that's where I've been for the past week."

"Wow!" Her younger sister named Kila exclaimed, wonder filling the eevee's voice.

"Amazing!" Amethyst's younger brother, Oliver, exclaimed.

"No, this is not _amazing_ ," interrupted her father, "this is resentful!"

"Now, I wouldn't go that far," her mother cut in. "Maybe a little disrespectful, or a lot, but not resentful."

The couple then got into a huge argument. Amethyst put her ears down in shame. "Ugh, not again… And this time I'm the cause, not you, Oliver."

"Yep. Isn't it great."

"Nope."

The argument continued. "Why do they have to do this," Kila grunted.

Oliver just shrugged to his older sisters. "I guess arguing is just their nature."

"Mmmmhmmm," Amethyst hummed nodding her head in agreement.

Twenty minutes later, they were still arguing like mad. Amethyst was getting annoyed.

"Well if you wouldn't just lay around around all day—"

"Guys!" Amethyst exclaimed, cutting her mother off. "I am a grown eevee now. I can make whatever life decisions I want to," Amethyst reasoned. "It's great that you still love me enough to...fight about whatever you were fighting about, but I'm not a little kid anymore. Kila though, Kila _is_ a kid. Do this to her all you want."

Kila glared at her sister, Amethyst just sticking her tongue out at her. The parents thought about Amethyst's rationalization, before coming to a conclusion. "No."

"Mom, dad. I am living on my own now. I'm an adult, you can't keep babying me like this," said Amethyst.

"B-but," Chloe responded, now tearing up, "you'll always be _my_ baby."

"No, I really won't be."

"She's right, Chloe," said Jeffrey, ignoring Amethyst's comment. "We can't keep doing this… But we're going to. Because we're terrible."

Chloe nodded in agreement, and, just like that, the two parents went back to arguing about what was best for Amethyst.

Oliver leaned in closer to Amethyst. "I think arguing is how they show that they love others."

–––––––––––––––––––––

"So how did that talk with your parents go," asked Xander, sitting outside of the lake that Amethyst was bathing in.

"It was...interesting," Amethyst replied.

"How so?"

"Well, After my parents forbade me from ever travelling with you ever again, I stormed off and started a rebellion against their tyranny," Amethyst explained. "They eventually surrendered after we defeated them in a verbal war."

"I wouldn't expect anything less from the family you came from," Xander simply stated.

Amethyst giggled and slowly sunk deeper into the water she was sitting in, sighing in content. "Yeah, we're pretty messed up."

"Well," Xander yawned, his eyes cast upon the position of the setting sun, "I think I'm going to, quite literally, hit the hay."

"Sleep well, Xander!" Amethyst called after Xander, who was walking back to his small cave. Xander simply waved back in response. Amethyst stayed in the water for a little bit longer before getting out, as to be sure she was adequately clean. Being clean is an essential after you spend a few days in a dusty desert with a minimal water supply. New life lesson learned.

Before going to bed though, Amethyst had to do something. Something that she does only once a year. Something that, if done wrong, could be tragic for her. Something that took great skill and precision when not using hands. _Making_ her bed.

Normally, any other person or Pokémon could've easily finished a task like this, as the average bed usually consisted of only hay and a blanket, but Amethyst had her own special process. A process not easy with the use of paws.

She had to rearrange each singular piece of straw in her bed. Surprisingly, this doesn't take very long, even with paws. It's just hard to do

There is no real point in doing this other than to make your hay bed look neat, which is pretty much impossible, but here's what she does anyway. The top layer—the only layer that really matters—is the only thing you need to mess with. You just straighten the hay out in whatever order you want, and then, _voilà!_ Your hay bed is now neat and tidy. Somehow.

Now, with this chore out of the way, Amethyst can finally rest. Yay! Amethyst very carefully laid herself down in her bed, being careful not to disrupt the tidiness too much. She closed her eyes and began dreaming about adventure number three…

–––––––––––––––––––––

A/N

Yeah, so… That was chapter 12? I didn't expect to make it this far.

With that said, I feel like this chapter took way too long to write. I'm not exactly satisfied with it, and after going through a bit of trial and error and rewriting at least half of it, I decided to leave it at this. Tell me what you think if you want; constructive, not destructive (I know you people are out there…waiting for the right moment to strike...), _constructive_ criticism.

Anyways, thanks for reading and stay tuned for the next chapter, which may be released kind of soon, but maybe not. Adios!


	13. The Joy of Weird Science and Falling

A/N

What's this? Another chapter? *cue party music*

Anyways, this is the beginning of the third arc, and with it will come some changes in how I want to do things. Previously, I just kind went through each chapter with little planning, filling in whatever fits. But now, I'm going to plan most of each chapter out before I get far into it. This will help create more depth and probably help with the rate at which chapters are released.

And, yeah, with that said, please enjoy this very...interesting addition to "The Joy of Adventure" that I felt had to be written.

–––––––––––––––––––––

Xander awoke to the sounds of rattling cages and gravel. He yawned, not realizing what was happening in his drowsy state. He wiped the crust out of his eyes…and that's when he finally realized something. "...Where the heck am I?"

Except for a few strips of light coming from somewhere above him, it was dark. In fact, everywhere that wasn't the light was pitch black. Xander could both hear and feel that he was in a cage. Groaning he said, "Not again…"

The audible sound of Amethyst's yawn found Xander's ears, coming from the cage across from him. Amethyst's ears twitched at the huge ruckus their cages were making. "Xander...is that you?"

"Yeah," Xander replied.

"Where are you?"

"I don't know. I'm not the one with the extremely sharp hearing ability," Xander responded.

"...Right."

Xander rolled his eyes. "Of course you would forget that…"

"Hey!" Amethyst defended. Before she had a chance to continue, what Xander assumed was a vehicle of some sort turned to the left, causing everything to slide a few inches.

"Uggghhhh…"

"Xander, is that you?" Questioned Amethyst.

"No, I thought it was you."

"Nope, it wasn't me."

"Ugghhh… Ah!" Some voice screamed. "Where am I?!"

"Well, I guess we're not alone this time, unfortunately…" Xander sighed.

"Hello?" Amethyst called, ignoring Xander's comment. "Are you there?"

"Y-yeah…" A voice responded from somewhere in the darkness. "Who are you? Where am I?!" It demanded..

The room they were in suddenly lurched upwards, as if it had hit a bump. "Must be one of those metal carriages that the people have…" Xander muttered.

Amethyst perked her ears at this. "The metal carriages? Cars? I hate those things! First they build roads for them to drive on, straight through _our_ forests!" Amethyst complained.

"Yeah, well that's where we are."

"That answers one of my questions… But who are you?" The voice spoke up.

"I'm Amethyst!" She proclaimed.

"Xander," Xander simply said.

"And who might you be?" Amethyst asked.

"I-I'm Kai," Kai answered.

Suddenly the car stopped, everything sliding to the back. Now all three Pokémon were right next to each other, granting Xander and Amethyst the amazing ability to see the new arrival. Kai was a pachirisu, a relatively young one, at that. But not too young; maybe about eighteen?

"Hi, Kai," said Amethyst, waving lightly at the pachirisu.

Kai waved back. "'S-sup."

The car's back doors opened quickly, instantly allowing light to flood into the dark interior of the van. People with black clothes and an "R" logo that Xander and Amethyst knew all too well walked into the van, approaching the cages the three Pokémon were in. Kai was shaking in fear as the people reached down to pick up his cage, almost to the point of wetting himself it seemed.

Next came the mudkip and the eevee's cages and they were unloaded from the van. The sunlight nearly blinded the two Pokémon as they were lifted out.

"Wow…" Amethyst breathed. Contrary to the previous Team Rocket building that was built into a mountain, this one was completely exposed. It was…breathtaking, to say the least. The building seemed to have two arms that reached around a beautiful courtyard, each one having walls covered on windows. This caused an extraordinary reflection to emit from the glass, making Amethyst gasp. "I...kind of feel bad for thinking this place is beautiful, especially considering what could be going on in there right now," said Amethyst, looking to Xander for support.

"Don't feel bad. Even I have to admit this is...wow," Xander said, wide eyed. The Team Rocket troops marched past a decently sized fountain, a masterpiece of beautiful architecture and water.

"U-um, if I may interrupt," Kai called from a few feet ahead of them, carried by another Team Rocketeer. "I don't think it's the best time to be looking at scenery." The pachirisu pointed ahead, the direction they were heading. A large set of doors, roughly ten feet and height and about fifteen wide, stood proudly in front of them. Intricate designs were carved into the doors, once again showing off the beauty of this particular building.

Two Team Rocket grunts positioned themselves on either side of the set of doors, slowly pulling them open to reveal what looked like a hallway of darkness.

Xander just stared dumbfounded at the doors and sarcastically remarked, "Well, I think I can safely say that 'imminent death' couldn't possibly be more obvious."

The trio of Pokémon were carried through into the dark abyss of a Team Rocket Lair. The doors closed behind them as the Team Rocket grunts standing guard outside pushed them. The lights immediately clicked on when the doors were shut, revealing the interior of the building to the three. The beautiful exterior of the building might lead you to believe the inside was just as luxurious, but you'd be wrong. The inside was just as plain as the last one they were in: white tiled floors with white walls.

"Whoever came up with the design of these hallways was insane! This place needs more color!" Amethyst complained.

"Yes, then you can be kidnapped in a pink cage, placed in a red car, and driven to the rainbow building of your demise," Xander sarcastically remarked.

"Uh, guys," Kai said from in front of them somewhere, "I don't think now is the best time to be arguing," he warned, pointing to an open door they were being taken to. He gulped as he entered, followed by Amethyst and Xander. Their cages were set on a granite table on the right wall of the small room. The grunts nodded to each other before marching out of the room.

The room was pure white. A _menacing_ white. The only thing in the room that they could see was the table they were set upon. Amethyst shivered. "I bet those rainbows would be nice now, huh Xander."

Xander didn't answer, not willing to admit that rainbows would actually take some tension out of the situation.

Kai, who had been frozen from fear the entire time they were in the room, was now freaking out. "W-what's going on? What are they going to do to us?! We need to get out of here!" He shouted in his panic.

"Relax, Kai," Amethyst soothed. "The solution is simple. Once somebody opens the doors to take us out of these cages, we'll jump out and make a run for it."

"D-do you really think that will work?" Kai queried, still not quite satisfied.

"I'm positive."

"If you say so…" he responded halfheartedly.

It had now been a few hours since they were put in the room, and the three were getting restless. Well, not Kai. It was mainly Xander and Amethyst. "Ugh, when is somebody going to get here? We've been here for, what, _six_ hours?"

"Yeah, I know," Amethyst agreed. "I'm only so patient."

Kai just looked at the two like they were insane. "What? Am I the only one _not_ looking forward to someone coming in here?" It seems fate decided to make that the moment it sent a scientist into their room, flanked by two guards. He murmured something to the two before turning his attention back to the Pokémon staring at him expectantly, or, two were staring at him expectantly. The other one was staring with unease.

The scientist grinned deviously at the three Pokémon, rubbing his hands together as if he was using lotion. He moved to open Amethyst's cage first, his grin only getting wider.

"Well, wish me luck," Xander just rolled his eyes and nodded.

The scientist undid the lock on Amethyst's cage, prompting Amethyst to prepare a jump. The scientist noticed this, however, and chuckled. He opened the door. Amethyst jumped. She fell back down after she was shocked by electricity. The scientist's grin grew even wider. He brought a remote to Amethyst's eye level and shook it in her face, causing her to growl in frustration.

Now, with established superiority over Amethyst, he grabbed the eevee and carried her outside into the hallway, presumably into another room with more than a table.

Kai fearfully turned to Xander. "W-what do you think is going to h-happen to her?"

Xander shrugged. "I don't know. Probably going to be experimented on in some way. No way of knowing for sure."

Kai gulped, but took consolation in how calm Xander was.

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Amethyst was roughly dropped onto a cold granite table, her claws scratching the surface with an annoying noise. The scientist didn't notice this though. He was too busy looking over his previous notes. Amethyst looked over his shoulder. _Inter dimensional travel is a very dangerous thing to work with—_ He nodded to himself once he was satisfied and Amethyst looked away like nothing happened. "Alright, test subject number 49. Are you ready? I know I am," he chuckled evilly. He set down said notes and looked back to Amethyst, who was sitting helplessly the table.

He picked her back up and...set her in a plastic tube? The tube ranged from the ceiling to the floor and had a strange pad built into the floor of it, as well as a few bright lights at the top. The Team Rocket scientist closed a door that Amethyst hadn't noticed before. Probably because it was made out of the same glass the rest of it was.

Amethyst looked at him questioningly, but the scientist just smirked at Amethyst, setting his hand on a lever a ways away from the tube, most likely in case of something going wrong. He thrust the lever down. The tube exploded into a cascade of lights, ranging from a bright red to the darkest of blues. The walls of the laboratory lit, colors of many different types tinting the walls, making the room seem fit for a rave party.

Then, with what looked like a ball of flames, it all stopped. The colors disappeared, the eevee disappeared… At least everything else was still there. The scientist looked up from his position on the ground, coughing from the smoke that pervaded the lab. A few patches of fire burned from an unknown source near the tube, yet the tube still looked perfectly fine. Not even a scratch was laid on it.

He grinned wickedly at the implications of this, turning his head to the monitors on a desk on a table next to the left wall. A series of numbers and mathematical formulas only he would understand were displayed on the screen, along with a few extra notes off to the sides. "Let's see here," he mumbled, "dimension… Dimension 674. It works…" But there was still one more test he needed to run to be absolutely sure of the machine's working status…

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"So...Xander...what do you like to do?" Kai asked innocently.

"Sulk and or wallow," Xander simply responded.

The scientist suddenly burst into the room with a crazed look in his eyes. He immediately grabbed the two cages and rushed back to his laboratory of science. He set the two down on the table with the monitors, then turned his attention to the computer screen. He mumbled inaudibly as he typed on his keyboard.

Kai was shaking so badly, Xander actually thought he was having a seizure there for a moment. "Hey, you okay, Kai?" He asked, deciding to care for once.

Kai... _kind of_ managed a nod, but you couldn't see it very well through his intense shaking. "Okay, if you say so," Xander said, shrugging it off as nothing.

"Eep!" Kai squeaked as he was suddenly picked up by Team Rocket scientist guy. With the scientist gone, Xander turned his attention to the monitor out of sheer boredom. "Dimension 1 and dimension 674…" Xander muttered, tilting his head in confusion. But before Xander could get a closer look at the other data on the screen, he was yanked off of the desk by the science guy, then set inside of the tube, right next to Kai. The door was slammed shut in front of them.

The scientist went back to his computer. "If this machine can transport multiple entities at the same time , we'll be able to half our work time…" He muttered under his breath. "That is, if it doesn't destroy the machine first."

Suddenly an obnoxious knocking emanated from his door. "Knock, knock," called a voice. "Dr. Steven, I've got your midday linner, or whatever you called it."

The newly named Dr. Steven facepalmed. "Just...leave it outside my door," he requested.

The sound of a plate smashing on the ground was heard and Dr. Steve groaned. "Sorry…" The voice apologized. "I'll go get another plate." Footsteps were clearly heard through his door and he sighed in relief.

He turned back to his computer work. He still needed to reoptimize the machine to be absolutely certain of where they would be sent. With only a few more strokes on his keyboard, he was finally ready. Dr. Steven laid his hand on the lever on his desk, double checking his work. Once he was satisfied, he pulled the lever. What happened was utter chaos.

The computer was only designed to read one entity at a time inside the tube, and as you can imagine, this caused several issues. At first everything was working as intended. A bright flash of colors shined from the tube, indicating that the transportation was occurring. The the chaos happened.

The light from the machine faded away, and Dr. Steven silently congratulated himself when he noticed their location. Dimension 674.

 _Boom!_

The panel on the machine exploded into a large array of sparks, which created an almost deafening noise. Various other explosions spread across the lab, from the machine itself to near the lever and his computer. Eventually, as you'd expect, the sparks ignited a fire.

Everything burnt, from the building itself to a portion of the forest. Both, though, were both completely destroyed. Most people did survive the fire of the Team Rocket building—for the best or for the worst.

Dr. Steven stared dumbfoundedly at the rubble of the once magnificent structure. "It's going to take me _months_ to replicate the effects of that test, let alone _rebuilding_ the machine," he growled. "But no matter, it was obviously flawed. I'll just need to get the parts to build the machine from the boss…"

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Xander felt the wind rush past him his consciousness slowly returned. He kept on hearing a really annoying sound from somewhere, but he couldn't put his finger, or leg in this case, on what exactly it was. As such, he disregarded it and tried to continue his slumber. He _tried_. The noise eventually became too much for him and he was forced to open his eyes to see what it was. Xander almost had a heart attack at what he saw.

They were a couple thousand feet above what appeared to be a lake. It was hard to tell what type of water body things were from this height. They were speeding towards the lake, getting much closer every second they dropped. Then the noise came back to Xander.

"AHHHHHHH!" Kai was screaming his head off, flailing around like crazy.

"Shut up, Kai!" Xander screeched over the insane wind. But kai didn't hear him, of course. He was too busy falling with volume.

They were now only about a thousand feet above the body of water. Xander drifted to Kai with his skydiving skills and punched him in the side.

"AHHHHH—OWWWWWW!" He yelled.

"KAI!"

This shut him up immediately. "We need think rationally about this. We need to fall into a _very_ deep part of that lake with the least force possible. Any ideas?"

Kai just shrugged, making Xander groan. "Just...hang on then," said Xander. Xander glided to Kai, once again using his skydiving skills, and did the most logical thing. He put Kai into a bubble. Then he put himself into a bubble. The two Pokémon floated to safety, Kai shaking every second of it.

After about twenty minutes, they landed on the shore of the lake they were previously falling over. It seemed Xander's method was super effective.

Kai fell to his knees and started kissing the ground. "I love you, solid ground," he breathed.

Xander couldn't help but stare at him as he did this, raising an eyebrow at him. "Kai, I hate to interrupt your little make-out session with the sand, but we can't just stay here. We have no idea where we are. It's dangerous and, as your superior in this situation, I must keep you safe, even if I don't want to," said Xander.

Kai looked at him. "J-just give me a few more seconds…" Xander rolled his eyes, but waited until he gathered himself. "O-okay I'm ready," said Kai, shakily getting to his feet...or paws, or whatever he has.

"Hey, Xander is that you?!" Called a very Amethyst-like voice from above.

Xander looked in the direction of that voice. Amethyst, who was hanging by her tail in a very tall tree, was having to the two. "Uh, yeah!" Xander called. "How the heck did you get all the way there?!" Amethyst was high. No, not that kind of high. She was high up in the tree.

"This is where I landed!" She looked around for any way to get down. There wasn't a way. "Can I have a little help?!"

"D-do the bubble thing, Xander," said Kai. "That seems to be the fastest way."

"Yes, but I didn't even know that was going to work. I just thought it would distract you from the fall so you would die more peacefully," said Xander, not tearing his eyes away from the eevee in the tree.

"W-what?" He sounded terrified.

"Nevermind." Xander let out another bubble. It floated to Amethyst, who got put into said bubble, and floated down peacefully.

The bubble popped when Amethyst touched the ground. "Oooh, can I do that again?" Amethyst asked gleefully.

"Not now, I'm trying to understand _how_ exactly that works."

"Maybe it's magic?" Amethyst suggested, drawing an amused snort from Xander.

"Yes, it's _magic_. And my best friend is a unicorn that runs on rainbows and...it's just too awful to think about," said Xander sarcastically.

Amethyst, however, just gasped. "You have a best friend? That's a unicorn? That's amazing!"

"I was joking!"

"Uh, guys," Kai interrupted. "I hate to ruin your...moment, but this place seems familiar."

Xander just looked puzzled, but Amethyst nodded and said, "You're right, but _how_ is it familiar? As far as I can tell I've never been here before."

Xander shrugged. "I'd say it resembles a part of the forest I've seen before, but there are probably a lot of places like that."

"Maybe Team Rocket ditched us here?" Kai suggested bashfully.

"Not likely. But that brings up the question, what happened?" Xander questioned. "The last thing I remember is getting put in a glass tube and waking up two thousand feet above the surface of the planet."

"Maybe they dropped us out of planes for whatever reason?" Asked Amethyst.

Xander shook his head. "Again, not likely. In fact, it's highly unlikely they would've let us go in the first place."

"Then how did we get here?"

"I...don't know. It's all very strange," Xander sighed.

"Well we shouldn't just be standing around," Kai spoke up shyly. "We should find someplace familiar."

Xander and Amethyst nodded their agreement. "That's a good idea. I saw a road somewhere over there when I was in that tree. That probably the road Team Rocket took us on. Maybe we can start there?" Said Amethyst.

Xander and Kai agreed and the two set off to find the road Amethyst mentioned. After about twenty minutes of searching, Amethyst announced that she had found the road and the trio set off in search of anything that looked familiar in any way. They walked in silence most of the way, with the exception of Amethyst, who was constantly humming something. The three had more important things to do besides socializing—much to Xander's relief—, like keeping their eyes peeled for...pretty much anything recognizable.

At first they weren't having much luck, nothing seeming familiar, and after a while they still weren't having much luck. Amethyst was getting restless, Kai was getting anxious, and Xander was acting as the calm one.

"Come on!" Amethyst exclaimed. "We've been at it for hours! We should've at least found a tree that looks similar to another tree we've seen. But, no, everything is new."

"Calm down, Amethyst," Xander consoled. "You probably haven't noticed, since you're so unobservant," Amethyst glared at him and Xander had to suppress a laugh, "but Goldenrod is right there."

"What? Where?" Asked Amethyst, jumping to try to get a better view.

"Right there," Xander pointed out the towering buildings of the city for Amethyst.

"Oh. Heh, thanks," Amethyst said sheepishly. "Does something seem a bit...off about it, though? Something's...different." Yes, something was different, indeed. If Amethyst had paid closer attention the last time she was there, she would have noticed that every building in the city was the complete _opposite_ color of what it should've been. And it was on the wrong side of the street they were on, but that's only minor. But, as Xander said, Amethyst is not very observant. And neither is Xander; he just doesn't like to admit it.

Xander shrugged. "Whatever. Let's just get back. I'm tired."

"Uhhh," Kai said, breaking into their conversation. "What about me? Are you guys gonna leave me?"

"No, of course not," Xander assured. "We'll let you stay with us for a night, then you'll have to go."

"Xander!" Amethyst chastised. "You can stay with us for as long as you need to, Kai."

Kai nodded his thanks to Amethyst, but still had one more complaint. "Well, I don't know where I am so I don't know where to go to get back." And there he went, introducing more problems to the already problematic situation.

"Well, good luck, Kai. You might need it."

"Xander!" Amethyst chastised. Again. "We're going to help Kai figure out where he needs to go."

"But once Kai leaves he won't be my responsibility anymore!"

"Deal with it!"

"Okay!"

"Uh, guys. I think we should get going before it gets dark," Kai advised. "There can be...strange Pokémon out at night."

"He's right, you know," said Amethyst. "I once saw a clown stalking a smaller clown. It was very strange."

And so they kept moving to get back to their home, Xander out of necessity, Kai out of fear of creepers, and Amethyst because clowns apparently scared her. _Especially_ when they were stalking other clowns. They didn't stumble upon any other problems, walking in relative silence, but Amethyst had a little trouble processing that the little passage to get to the road from her clearing was on the _opposite_ side of the road. It's a little disorienting.

Plants and wildlife seem to have grown abundantly around their little path, but it never once got in anyone's at during their walk on it. _This is...very strange_ , Amethyst thought, _I never even_ try _to maintain this place._ Nobody else seemed to notice, though. Xander usually just slept all day, so he couldn't have actually known this. Unless he does other things that Amethyst didn't know about… Nah, he's too lazy for that.

The trio emerged into the clearing, sighing in relief that they finally made it back. It was almost dark now, and Xander would've just fallen asleep on the road. Amethyst didn't particularly feel like dragging him here. Kai gaped in awe at the marvelous lakeside living place. "This place is amazing, guys. It's much better than where I live," Kai complimented.

"Why, thank you, Kai."

"Naturally," Xander commented, earning a slap from Amethyst.

"Anyways, Xander's place is a little on the smaller side, so you're welcome to stay in my cave," Amethyst invited. Neither of the two Pokémon had any objections, so they went their separate ways.

"You go ahead, Kai," said Amethyst, waving him into her cave. "I'm gonna stay out here for a little bit." Kai nodded and went into the cave. With Kai in the cave, Amethyst sighed and walked to the lake for a soak. The warm water the lake offers always relieves tension. She submerged herself and sighed again, laying her head back and closing her eyes. A few seconds later, however, her content was disrupted. By a blue and orange head rising out of the water.

"Aaah!" Amethyst screamed, alarm filling her voice. She heard a very similar scream from behind her as Kai was chased out of the cave by another eevee.

"What are you doing in our home!" They screened in unison.


End file.
